Alarming unemployment: women over 60 in Freistadt affected!

Alarming unemployment: women over 60 in Freistadt affected!

The situation for women over 60 years in the Freistadt district is increasingly problematic. Current figures show an increase in unemployment in the region of 14.3 percent. The unemployment rate was 2.6 percent at the end of May and secured second place in Upper Austria. 385 women and 428 men are registered as a job seeking at the AMS Freistadt. The dramatic increase in unemployment in older women is particularly alarming: their number has tripled in the year, while the number of unemployed men over the age of 60 has dropped by 14 percent. This development is attributed in particular to the increasing retirement age, which exacerbates the situation for many older women who have a hard time finding a new job. Funding offers to companies only apply to a limited extent because many companies are looking for long -term workers and often prefer younger applicants. Meinverzirk reports that many older women stay on the route.

What does that mean for the future?

From the beginning of 2024, the statutory pension age for women will gradually be adjusted to that of men. This measure brought a lot of criticism in advance, since an increase in old -age unemployment was feared in women. However, the first figures from the AMS show that on the annual average around 30,000 women over 60 were employed dependent, which means an increase of around 13,800 compared to the previous year. Where does this positive trend come from? The growth in employment can be seen primarily in the areas of administration, trade and social and healthcare. Around 85 percent of women over 60 are still employed, while 15 percent are unemployed. KURIER emphasizes that many women stay in working life longer, but the situation is not rosy.

structural problems remain

Christine Mayrhuber from the Economic Research Institute, however, warns of continuing structural problems. Unemployment among women rose by around 10,000 last year, of which over 2,000 have been recorded in the 60-plus group. These worrying figures make it clear that a better income is also necessary for women to improve their integration into the labor market. The situation for women who were not well integrated before the reform is critical because they have difficulty crossing the pension. Statistics employment agency shows that targeted promotion of the integration of older unemployed is indispensable.

The topic of the subject of heavy work has been based on both positive and negative aspects. While the expansion to nursing professions helps well -integrated women, it remains rather ineffective for many other women with health problems or incomplete work biographies. The average of lower incomes of women has serious effects on the pension gap, which becomes clear from Mayrhuber’s analysis. In order to close the gap in the pensions, better income and more insurance years are necessary.