Over 50, Female and Jobless
I always had the struggles of the <i>slightly</i> older job seekers close to my heart. It&#x27;s just something that employment policy doesn&#x27;t address adequately.<p>My father is in that situation - which is why, obviously, I feel it so close. He&#x27;s slightly above 50, with qualifications (B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering) and a lot of experience. However, he has been jobless since his last company closed, 6 years ago.<p>It&#x27;s really a perfect shitstorm for people in his situation. He has a lot of experience, but in the manufacturing industry which, as we know, is being dislocated elsewhere (we live in Portugal). There&#x27;s the competition of younger graduates, which are also unemployed. Of course, he&#x27;s too young to retire. And he&#x27;s been unemployed long enough, so state benefits expired; the last resort state benefit - for poverty, really - doesn&#x27;t apply because my parents have a house (so, he&#x27;d have to sell the house to get the state benefit).<p>Luckily he has some money set aside, but - again - this is Portugal. You can save some money with our wages, but not nearly enough to support such a tremendous amount of time unemployed. And, well, luckily I&#x27;m employed but the same reasoning applies: I&#x27;m able (and happy) to help, but I don&#x27;t make nearly enough to be able to do so and still save for a rainy day.