Your Take on the Economy

In May we asked you about the economy--how it was affecting you, your job, and your stress level. Over 1600 of you responded to our poll, and it would appear ThirdAgers are concerned about the financial crisis, but cautiously optimistic about the future. Here's what you told us:

Only 7 percent of you are actively looking for a job, which is good, since 67 percent of you believe it would be difficult to find a comparable one (36 percent say very difficult). A whopping 79 percent believe it’s harder for those over 50
to find employment in this climate. And 46 percent believe they will
need new or enhanced skills to be competitive in today’s job market (23
percent aren’t sure and 32 percent say it's unnecessary). When it comes to attaining those new skills, 25 percent would
definitely be interested in learning, another 35 percent might be, but
40 percent would only learn new skills if they had to.

On the immediate front, many of you fear that your spouse or partner will lose his job or have her hours cut: 23 percent are very concerned, another 21 percet are somewhat concerned. As one would expect, the economic climate has taken a toll on your stress levels. Sixteen percent report being affected a great deal, while 56 percent report that they have been affected somewhat.

President Obama gets high marks on his handling of the economic crisis from 72 percent of respondents. But 29 percent aren’t so happy with the way he’s handled it.  Fast forward three years and 54 percent predict the economic climate will be somewhat better, while the number of people who thought it would be much better (16 percent) equaled those who thought it would be worse.

Our thanks to all who participated in the survey. Remember, you can offer your opinion anytime, in the comment section.