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SEND YOUR LETTER OF SUPPORT for the Senior Community Service Employment Program!
Contact your representatives and the White House now!
PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW - CLICK HERE TO SEND YOUR LETTER OF SUPPORT TODAY!
Protect the Community Service Employment Program for Older Americans from Additional Budget Cuts
Contact your Congressperson and urge them to protect the Community Service Employment Program for Older Americans from additional budget cuts! The Community Service Employment Program for Older Americans is a federally-sponsored community service employment and training program for unemployed low-income individuals, ages 55 and older. The program, known as the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), offers participants work-based community service training at non-profit or governmental agencies, so that they can gain on-the-job experience and prepare to enter or re-enter the workforce. This program suffered a major cut in its funding from its FY2010 level of $825 million (which included funding from the economic stimulus package) to $450 million for FY2011.
As the President and Congress work to resolve the budget deficit and deliberate on funding for the 2012 fiscal year, it must present a fair and balanced approach by insuring that older workers have access to the services of the SCSEP program which provide an effective pathway to becoming, or returning, economically independent taxpaying citizens. Help older Americans get a job, click here to send your letter of support to protect funding for the Senior Community Employment Program for Older Americans from additional budget cuts!
Tell them that job training programs are needed for older Americans! Did you know that:
The Great Recession has Changed the Future for Many Older Americans
According to a recent survey by the AARP Public Policy Institute:
- The future has changed for many older Americans. In its wake, the Great Recession leaves high unemployment, widespread loss of income and savings, and lower home values.
- Four in ten surveyed believe their standard of living in retirement will be worse than that of their parents.
- Over the course of the Great Recession, the unemployment rate for older Americans aged 55-plus reached a level not seen during any other recession in the past 60 years.
- The average duration of unemployment rose for older jobseekers, as did the percentage who were among the long-term unemployed. Many gave up the job search and left the labor force.
Older African Americans Hit Hard by the Great Recession
According to an AARP January 2010 survey:
- About 18 percent of African Americans age 50+ had lost a job in 2009, compared to 10 percent of all age 45+ adults.
- Workers without a high school diploma suffered higher rates of joblessness.
- Job hunts took longer, where nearly half of out -of-work mature African Americans spent almost six months (25 weeks) job-hunting in 2009, compared to 19 weeks for older whites and 17 weeks for Hispanics.
Since the Great Recession, the Unemployment Situation for Older Americans is an Uphill Battle
According to the AARP Public Policy Institute:
- In May 2011, the average duration of unemployment for older jobseekers continued to rise.
- About 88,000 more people aged 55 and over were unemployed in May than in April. The unemployment rate for this age group rose from 6.5 percent to 6.8 percent – lower than at the depth of the recent recession but still more than double the rate in 2007, when the recession began.
- The average duration of unemployment for older jobseekers, which first exceeded one year in April, rose to 54.7 weeks in May.
- Nearly six in ten older jobseekers, or 57.8 percent, had been out of work for 27 or more weeks, up from April’s 56.3 percent.
Follow three (3) easy steps to send your letter now - Click Here
