Posted by:
Trista Winnie @ 6:53 PM
Estimated Productivity Losses Caregiving Causes U.S. Businesses
The baby boomers comprise a large and aging population. As baby boomers and their parents age, more and more people are requiring caregiving in varying levels of intensity. In fact, more than 44 million Americans provide some sort of care for a family member or friend 18 years or older. The National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP conducted the study, called Caregiving in the United States, to find the costs to employers of caregiving employees.
"This study estimates the productivity losses to U.S. business of employees who must make workplace accommodations as a result of caregiving responsibilities. These include costs associated with replacing employees, absenteeism, crisis in care, workday interruptions, supervisory time, unpaid leave, and reducing hours from full-time to part time," according to the study.
Some of the key findings of the study are listed below:
The total estimated cost to employers for full-time employees with intense caregiving responsibilities is $17.1 billion.
The average cost per employee for those with intense caregiving responsibilities is $2,441.
The total estimated cost to employers for all full-time, employed caregivers is $33.6 billion.
The average cost per employee for all full-time, employed caregivers is $2,110.
The majority of family caregivers (79%) are providing care to someone over the age of 50.
Nearly 60% of those caring for an adult over the age of 50 are working; the majority of those work full-time.
Nearly 40% of caregivers are men.
The average age of the caregiver for a person over the age of 50 is 47.
Most caregivers provide unpaid care to a parent or grandparent.
Approximately 15% of the caregivers were providing care to someone who lived at a distance of more than an hour away.
At least 6 out of 10 employed caregivers reported that they had made some work-related adjustments as a result of their caregiving responsibilities.
10% of the employed caregivers reduced their hours from full-time to part-time.
Labels: Baby Boomers, Business, Senior Citizens, Workforce
Posted by:
Trista Winnie @ 6:22 PM
By dint of their sheer number alone, baby boomers are an influential group. So when a group of about 78 million people decides to blaze a new trail, the rest of us have no choice but to follow their lead.
In this case, the baby boomers have begun to reshape the American workforce.
"A succession of surveys over the past decade makes plain the plans of a new generation of older Americans to keep working. Most of this research reveals that four of five boomers are expecting to continue working at the point when earlier generations moved to the sidelines," according to the MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures New Face of Work Survey. "Indeed, there is already evidence of shifting labor patterns on the part of the pre-boomers, as early retirement levels off and millions of older workers remain in the workforce. These polls also find that most people who keep working want more than an endless incarnation of midlife work. Instead, they are keen on renegotiating their relationship to work, looking for more flexibility and liberation from the long hours characterizing midlife labor in America today."
53 percent of adults aged 50 to 70 expect to work even into their retirement, according to the survey.
The survey focused on what baby boomers want to accomplish through their work once they have passed the traditional retirement age, and whether those desires meshed with what America will need to have people doing. Thankfully, rather than finding a huge disconnect between what baby boomers will want to be accomplishing and what will need to be accomplished, the survey found "heartening indications of what might well be a win-win opportunity of staggering proportions."
According to the survey, 50 percent of Americans aged 50 to 70 are interested in working--now or in the future--in positions that would help improve the quality of life in their communities. More specifically, of leading edge baby boomers, 58 percent are interested in such positions.
"There is overwhelming interest in finding specific types of work in retirement that would
serve the community and people in need," according to the survey. Of baby boomers who plan to work during retirement, 78 percent are interested in working to help the poor, the elderly
and others in need. 56 percent are interested in working with health issues, such as in a hospital or for an organization working to fight a particular disease. And 55 percent are interested in teaching or other educational positions.
Those surveyed gave a variety of reasons for why they will want to continue working past the traditional retirement age. The most common reasons included staying connected with other people; receiving a sense of purpose from working; earning additional income; and the ability to help improve the quality of life in their community.
Labels: Baby Boomers, Workforce
Posted by:
Trista Winnie @ 11:52 AM
As summer rapidly approaches, millions of college students are preparing to graduate and find their first "real world" jobs. (Few of them will likely be actually working for "The Real World.")
Philadelphia topped a recent list of the top 10 most affordable cities for grads. The list was compiled based on research from Apartments.com and CBCampus.com, which is part of CareerBuilder.
"Joey Hyde, a 25-year old physics grad student at the University of Pennsylvania, likes living in downtown Philadelphia because he can get around without a car, make spontaneous plans with friends or his fiancée for a night on the town, and enjoy a great meal at his favorite upscale Cuban restaurant for half of what it would cost in Manhattan," according to MSNBC.
"Frontrunner Philadelphia, along with other cities on the list, has been working to enhance its reputation among younger workers and prevent the 'brain drain' that happens when young adults graduate and leave," according to MSNBC.
For more on this phenomenon, see our article on the
Top 5 Declining U.S. Markets.
Research criteria for each city included "the population of people age 20 to 24, the number of entry-level job openings suitable for new grads, and the average cost to rent a one-bedroom apartment," according to MSNBC.
The rest of the list included, in order from second through tenth: Boston, New York, Phoenix, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Houston, Detroit and Atlanta.
New York was the most expensive city on the list in terms of the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which is $1,520 per month. Detroit featured the cheapest rental rate for a one-bedroom apartment at $699 monthly.
Labels: U.S. Cities, Young Workers
Posted by:
Trista Winnie @ 1:06 PM
Planned layoffs by U.S. companies in April increased 68 percent compared to planned layoffs in March, hitting the highest levels seen since September 2006, according to a report released today by employment consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
U.S. companies planned 90,015 layoffs last month, compared to 53,579 in March. April's layoffs were a 27 percent increase from a year earlier. Planned layoffs haven't been this high since September 2006, when 100,315 jobs were cut, according to the report.
The financial sector was hit hardest by the spate of layoffs, because of "the housing slump and about $300 billion in write-downs on bad mortgages and investments, the firm said," according to Reuters. "The financial services industry announced 23,106 cuts in April with almost half of them occurring in a two-day period that saw hefty planned layoffs from Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, it said."
The telecommunications and transportation sectors also suffered heavy job losses, with 8,007 and 7,954 planned layoffs in April, respectively.
"Employers have announced 290,671 jobs to be eliminated in the first four months of 2008, up 9 percent from the 266,658 cuts recorded during the same span in 2007, the firm said," according to Reuters.
Labels: Economy, Job Market
Posted by:
Trista Winnie @ 8:02 AM
As belts tighten and families trim the fat from their budgets, it is poignantly ironic that one of the first things to be chopped from the list of luxuries in certain families is getting their own bodies chopped up. I mean, of course, that great American pastime: cosmetic surgery.
“‘We're seeing fewer consultations,’ said Dr. Robert Singer of La Jolla. ‘During a time of downturn in the economy, practices see fewer shoppers.’”
“Shoppers” meaning people who want pieces sucked/chopped/frappéd out of them. At this point, the doctors speculate that the reason is simply that the money isn’t there. Mom and Dad aren’t willing to shell-out for little Helvetica’s new nose when they are wondering how they’ll even
pay for her college. Before long, however, our problems may just correct themselves. I.e. food prices will have us all slimming down the old-fashioned way by natural starvation.
While this is good news for people like me with a hideously twisted body image (So...hungry...), it comes as little comfort to doctors and medical suppliers. One example:
“Mentor Corp. of Santa Barbara reduced the upper range of its sales estimates for 2008 by $15 million in part because of declining sales of its breast implants in the United States.”
What have we become when young women can’t afford to take that first step towards becoming a silicon-based life form? Is this the same world in which Norman Rockwell limned his immortal painting, "Freedom from Flatness?" But wait...There may be another explanation for all of this: Americans may still be leaving cartilage and fat on the OR floor, but far, far away from home.
The international medical tourism trade is booming. For the same price or less, medical tourism firms and affiliated hospitals are offering the same procedures you find at your local Mom n’ Pop Lipo Stop, but in destinations like Brazil, India and Thailand, allowing people to recover in a more clement, relaxing climate. NuWire discussed the
medical tourism industry and how investors might take advantage of it as it grows, including a list of the
top 5 places to invest. Thailand didn’t make the cut because military coups don’t do much for one’s convalescence.
Having been hospitalized a number of times throughout Asia, I can vouch for the fact that the staff in those countries is equally if not more capable than the staff in American hospitals. And having also lived and been hospitalized in Atlanta, I’d say that the Thai doctors spoke better English, too, so you needn’t worry about communication issues.
So while the Nip/Tuck set may be facing thinner times, the news isn’t quite so dismal for the rest of us. On the next family trip to Costa Rica, mom can regain the full, supple lips she’s chewed away with nervous tension, dad can come back missing half of his intestinal tract, and little Helvetica can go to prom with a brand new schnoz. Best of all, investors who give people a place to rest while they recuperate and face the uncertainty and agony of their mutilation might walk away with a severe case of obesity...of the wallet.
This was a guest post by Trenton Flock, Web Editor at NuWire.
Labels: Economy
Posted by:
Trista Winnie @ 3:44 PM
Those who are looking forward to their retirement are looking forward to the happiest time of their lives, according to a new study. The oldest Americans are the happiest, "and older adults are more socially active than the stereotype of the lonely senior suggests," according to an Associated Press article.
"The two go hand-in-hand—being social can help keep away the blues."
"A certain amount of distress in old age is inevitable, including aches, pains and deaths of loved ones and friends. But older people generally have learned to be more content with what they have than younger adults," according to the article.
The study, which included 28,000 people aged 18 to 88, found that "there were ups and downs in overall happiness levels during the study, generally corresponding with good and bad economic times. But at every stage, older Americans were the happiest," according to the article.
"In general, the odds of being happy increased 5 percent with every 10 years of age."
Labels: Senior Citizens
Posted by:
Trista Winnie @ 3:27 PM
In the midst of a drawn-out presidential campaign, Democratic senators
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, both vying for their party's nomination, are courting young voters.
They both appeared on Stephen Colbert's satirical news show, "The Colbert Report," which is immensely popular with the young demographic. Choosing to appear on "The Colbert Report" may have proven to be a wise decision for the candidates, because a recent study, to be published in an upcoming issue of PS: Political Science & Politics, has confirmed that the purported "Colbert Bump" actually exists.
"Democrats who appeared on the show raised about 44 percent more money after their appearance than they did before. Republicans, on the other hand, didn't fare as well after their Colbert appearance. Their appearance either had no effect, or a slightly negative one," according to a
LiveScience article.
Thus, Republican nominee John McCain might want to steer clear of "The Colbert Report."
Obama has also drawn the attention of younger voters by making a reference to a popular Jay-Z song in a recent speech. In describing how presidential candidates need to overcome negative attacks, he motioned as though he was brushing something off his shoulders, an apparent reference to the Jay-Z song "Dirt Off Your Shoulder." Ben Smith of Politico called the allusion a "generational dog whistle," meaning that it's a reference that only young voters will be able to understand.
Labels: Generation Y, Politics
