Part-time "wifey" jobs. The concept may be illegal, but it is still in practice. Many men and women who have spent the last 20 years gaining credentials and wisdom toward bettering their careers have been relegated to part-time work, as if we had a "provider" at home who earned the mainstay of our income and had no need of retirement benefits. How can a business continue to promote part-time work as a benefit, rather than the financial drag it is? Several years ago, I was told my hours would be cut back. My immediate supervisor asked me, "Isn't your relationship with your boyfriend getting more serious? You'll be moving in soon, won't you?" As if that was an answer to my cut in pay. There are 8 women working in my department, all part-time and all needing to supplement their income with outside employment in order to pay daily living expenses. We receive neither pensions, nor 401K benefits. Oh sure, we could contribute to our 401K's without matching employer funds, but unfortunately, we all need every penny of our part-time income to try to make ends meet. I am 62 years old and have no pension and no retirement account. I have a little equity in my home, which devoured my savings when I purchased it 10 years ago. Naturally, I thought my income would increase, not decrease over the ensuing years.
By hiring part-time workers, businesses are able to skirt around employee benefit packages set up during the Years of Plenty. New regulations need to be put in place for part-time workers who need health and retirement benefits. It may be too late for me, but for those men and women coming into middle age now, it may prevent a lapse into poverty later in life. I will be one of many Baby Boomers dependent on Social Security, or taking up some youngster's place in the job market well into my dotage. Of course, I tell all my friends that I cannot retire until I'm 83 when my 30 year mortgage will be paid off. Yes, it took me until I was 53 to purchase a home. So much for the marriage and a mortgage American Dream. I am single, in my sixties, and struggling -- and I am not alone.
By hiring part-time workers, businesses are able to skirt around employee benefit packages set up during the Years of Plenty. New regulations need to be put in place for part-time workers who need health and retirement benefits. It may be too late for me, but for those men and women coming into middle age now, it may prevent a lapse into poverty later in life. I will be one of many Baby Boomers dependent on Social Security, or taking up some youngster's place in the job market well into my dotage. Of course, I tell all my friends that I cannot retire until I'm 83 when my 30 year mortgage will be paid off. Yes, it took me until I was 53 to purchase a home. So much for the marriage and a mortgage American Dream. I am single, in my sixties, and struggling -- and I am not alone.
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