The Cost of Aging: A Study on the Impact of Age on Unemployment Duration
Advisor Information
Catherine Co
Location
UNO Criss Library, Room 232
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
4-3-2016 1:15 PM
End Date
4-3-2016 1:30 PM
Abstract
In the most recent recession unemployment duration was exacerbated to never seen before levels in the United States. Even as the labor market has recovered in recent years, long-term unemployment remains abnormally high. In order to discover what populations are at the greatest risk for long-term unemployment, this paper investigates how age impacts the length of unemployment. The current literature suggests that, as workers get older, their skillsets diminish and they become more resistant to wage cuts, which results in longer periods of unemployment. This paper builds on this past research to investigate if this theory holds true for the period after the Great Recession. A regression analysis is conducted to examine if this hypothesis can be confirmed empirically. First, a regression analysis is used on the whole unemployed population, which confirms the positive relationship between age and unemployment duration. Further analysis is also conducted after dividing the population into three smaller age cohorts. After performing the same procedure on each cohort, the results show that the conclusion for the entire population is not true of each individual cohort. Age is found to be a significant factor for workers between 25 and 54 years old; whereas it is less of a factor for those outside of this cohort. This paper hopes to offer some insight into why this may be the case.
The Cost of Aging: A Study on the Impact of Age on Unemployment Duration
UNO Criss Library, Room 232
In the most recent recession unemployment duration was exacerbated to never seen before levels in the United States. Even as the labor market has recovered in recent years, long-term unemployment remains abnormally high. In order to discover what populations are at the greatest risk for long-term unemployment, this paper investigates how age impacts the length of unemployment. The current literature suggests that, as workers get older, their skillsets diminish and they become more resistant to wage cuts, which results in longer periods of unemployment. This paper builds on this past research to investigate if this theory holds true for the period after the Great Recession. A regression analysis is conducted to examine if this hypothesis can be confirmed empirically. First, a regression analysis is used on the whole unemployed population, which confirms the positive relationship between age and unemployment duration. Further analysis is also conducted after dividing the population into three smaller age cohorts. After performing the same procedure on each cohort, the results show that the conclusion for the entire population is not true of each individual cohort. Age is found to be a significant factor for workers between 25 and 54 years old; whereas it is less of a factor for those outside of this cohort. This paper hopes to offer some insight into why this may be the case.