Of Interest

"Getting Canned" Hazardous to Seniors’ Health

Common sense would seem to suggest that the older workers who have fewer financial and family obligations than their younger counterparts do should take being fired or laid off with more aplomb. But recent research shows that involuntary job loss has a more profound effect on older workers. In fact, it may even be hazardous to the physical and mental health of the older individual.

According to Dr. William T. Gallo of Yale University School of Medicine, "Our findings indicate that negative health effects of involuntary job loss are significant for older workers." Gallo and his fellow researchers added that workers in the U.S. tend to save heavily in the years preceding retirement and rely primarily on personal savings amassed in this period for the costs of retirement. "It is therefore easy to imagine that late-stage job loss could bear important consequences for the well-being of dislocated U.S. workers."