From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov

Title: Excerpts from Focus Groups and Interviews with Unemployed Older 
Workers, Recorded June and July 2011

Description: Many unemployed older workers experience challenges 
regaining employment face reduced retirement security. Examples of 
financial and reemployment challenges that long-term unemployed older 
workers face include the struggle with depression and discouragement, 
difficulty paying critical living expenses, the perception that 
employers are reluctant to hire them, and more.

Released: April 2012

[First Screen] [Silence]

This video is part of a GAO report: Unemployed Older Workers: Many 
Experience Challenges Regaining Employment and Face Reduced Retirement 
Security (GAO-12-445)

[Second Screen] [Silence]

Examples of Financial and Reemployment Challenges Long-Term Unemployed 
Older Workers Face

[Third Screen] [Silence]

Excerpts from Focus Groups and Interviews with Unemployed Older 
Workers Recorded June and July 2011

[First Example] [Silence]

Unemployed Older Workers Struggle with Depression and Discouragement

"You don’t feel like you're part of the community. You’re not part of, 
you know, anything. It’s like you get older and people just toss you 
aside." 65-year-old woman

"I was used to a 70-hour week, and then to go from that to nothing, 
your sense of self-worth isn't there." 58-year-old woman

"When you’re not working you don’t feel very good, you’re depressed. You
’re, you know—you feel discouraged. Your self esteem is about, you 
know, an inch high." 62-year-old woman

"We grew up working an 8-hour day, 9 hours, 10 hours in some cases, 
and it’s like all of a sudden you're thrown away and you're going, 
'Wait. What do I do the rest of my life?'" 57-year-old man

[Second Example] [Silence]

Unemployed Older Workers Have Difficulty Paying Critical Living Expenses

"You’ve got to support a family, so you're still out there on the 
pavement or the Internet looking for a job." 55-year-old man

"I don’t even want to go to the doctor to find out there's something 
wrong because then we can't afford to get it fixed." 56-year-old woman

"Medical can cost you $1,000 a month. I mean, when you think about 
Social Security at my age group—my Social Security is $1,300 a month. 
Medical is $1,000, where is my mortgage and food?" 64-year-old woman

"I ended up losing my condo to a short sale because I, you know, just 
couldn’t afford it anymore." 64-year-old woman

"My son actually moved back in with us so he could give me rent money 
each week because he felt bad for us. He got rid of his apartment and 
moved back in with us." 55-year-old man

[Third Example] [Silence]

Unemployed Older Workers Perceive That Employers Are Reluctant to Hire 
Them

"The interview was going really, really well and she started flipping 
it [my application] and then she—all of the sudden—she went, 'Oh 
no!'...and I said, What is it in my application? 'Oh nothing, nothing, 
I just noticed what year you graduated from high school.'" 59-year-old 
man

"They asked me one question that always knocked me out of the game—they’
re not allowed to ask how old you are, but they wanted to know when I 
graduated from college." 62-year-old man

"In addition to the other things I had a hand in some of the hiring.  
You know, it wasn’t for publication but the guy said, 'Don’t hire 
anybody older than me or fatter than me.'" 57-year-old man

"I have a job interview tomorrow for a job at 50 percent of my salary 
for $25,000 a year. And you know what? I’ll take it if they offer it 
to me, because I can keep looking while I have [the job]…if they want 
me after they see how old I am when I walk in the door."  56-year-old 
woman

[Fourth Example] [Silence] 

Job Loss Can Diminish Future Retirement Income and Motivate Early 
Social Security Claims

"Hopefully, I don’t live to be—for more than about another ten years 
because I will be broke in ten years." 61-year-old man

"It’s gone from at least some hope of retiring to—hope I can survive." 
63-year-old man

"I had $150,000 - 175,000 in my 401(k) retirement, and now after a 
little over two years being unemployed, it’s down to $25,000." 61-year-
old man

"I just turned 62 in January, and I just filed for my Social Security 
so that I would have some kind of income to fall back on, because 
unemployment was exhausted." 62-year-old woman

"I’m turning 62 in a few days, and I’m going 'What am I going to do? 
You can’t find a job out there so I might as well retire.'" 61-year-
old man

"If I don’t find a job, I’ll claim at 62 because of, you know, 
unemployment will be long gone by then. And if I do sell that house, 
anything I have left after…after the sale...will be gone by then, too. 
So, if I find a job, I won't claim unless or until I have to for 
health reasons or whatever." 59-year-old woman