Fighting Age Discrimination - Successful Ways Baby Boomers Can Hold Their Job

Baby boomers are facing an increasing problem as the years go on. Besides worrying about social security and where they will go once they retire, baby boomers are having a difficult time maintaining jobs. This isn't because of credentials or qualifications. It has to do with their age.

Baby boomers were born post World War II and before the Vietnam War when there was a massive increase in the number of children that were born in the United States. This a large group of people and companies are having a harder time maintaining them. The problems arise because the baby boomer generation is making a ton of money. Companies fire the older person, who is in their 50s and hire a young person out of college for half the salary. There is a way to fight this and that's with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).

Everyone is protected from discrimination based simply on their age. The Equal Employment Commission has been inundated with age discrimination complaints over the past few years. There was an increase of 41 percent between 1999 and 2002 and keeps going up.

Baby boomers don't have to worry about their job security when they know they have the EEOC working for them. If a problem does happen at work consider all the reasons. If you know you were doing a great job and there was no other reason for your firing, talk to the EEOC and see if someone can help you. Unfortunately, during these times of inflation, companies are making less money. They are looking at ways to save and will either layoff workers or buy them out. The oldest and highest paid are usually the first ones to go.

The ADEA isn't a new concept. Discriminating in the workplace based on age has been illegal since 1967 when a law was passed that said no one is allowed to be discriminated based on any reason such as religion, race, sex, gender and age. For baby boomers, growing up during the civil rights movement could make you want to fight if you are fired. If you have right to, just take the proper steps to ensure you are getting everything you need.

Today's baby boomers tend to have a stigma of being unhappy or jaded. If you look at everything they have to deal with, it's easy to understand. Baby boomers not only have to be concerned with their job safety, but what will happen once they finish working. Social security is a mess and estimates say there won't be enough to pay everyone. Healthcare is on the rise and with more baby boomers hitting the Medicare age, it will cost even more for medical bills. The worry and concern over these issues is valid. So, the last thing anyone of the baby boomer generation wants to worry about is whether they are being discriminated based on age at their workplace.

If you have felt discriminated based on age, call your local EOCC chapter. Speak with a representative and explain what has happened in your situation. They will explain to you the steps you need to take and where to go. You can even retain a lawyer if you feel you have a strong enough case. Find one that specializes in these types of cases. Getting someone with experience will be able to help you and show you all the exact steps that you will need to take. You don't have to take it lying down. If you feel strongly that you have been discriminated against based on age, fight for your job and livelihood back.

Baby Boomers Lifestyle - How Baby Boomers Are Different From the Previous Generation

Baby boomers lifestyle is different from the previous generation because they have had to adapt from the culture of their parents.

The two big differences in the generations are work and family related. I am not here to judge but to point out why this difference occurred.

In the fifties and sixties returning veterans could start work for a company and expect to retire after working there for 40 years. There was job security, company loyalty and it was the way things worked then...not now.

I am now 65...for those of a similar age ask yourself how many of your elementary school classmates did not have a mother and father, living at home with them.

Dad went to work; Mom stayed home and raised the family. This was not isolated to one region of the country I went to 11 schools in grades 1 through 12; my dad was an Army officer.

Divorce was unheard of then... a two-parent family provided a stability the baby boomer generation takes for granted.

Fast forward, to today,the baby boomers lifestyle finds divorce rates at 50% or higher, the two-parent family is no longer a given...in some places, they are in the minority.

The job market for Boomers has vastly changed. In the 1980s, companies were bought and sold like Monopoly pieces. Pension funds went out the window; job security was something only the post office afforded. Mom could no longer afford to stay home... she had to work. The baby boomer lifestyle changed from their parents lifestyle.

Boomers discovered the necessity of day-care, multiple jobs and a culture that did not think of divorce as a scarlet letter.

That has made the Boomer generation more independent and self-reliant than the previous generation. The stable home and cradle to grave relationship with one's work is outdated.

Only time will tell if the generation of the Boomer's parents was the "greatest generation". For sure the baby boomer lifestyle is different form their parents lifestyle.