I grew up at the tail end of the baby boom, and was comfortably upper-middle class during my formative years. Therefore, it was hard for me to understand the frugality of my now 87-year-old father.
The simple reality is that we grew up in different generations. In 2009, there is some ironic symmetry to each of our worldviews. He is trying to figure out how to stay retired and I — like many readers — how to stay employed.
When I was in high school, I had a glimpse of the world into which my father was born when I read Michael Gold’s classic book, “Jews Without Money.”
In the mid-1970s, reading this work of historical fiction was an academic exercise. In 2009, it has become an unwelcome reality that I and many of my similarly aged cohorts are ill-prepared to deal with, much less accept.
The question I was asked to consider in writing this article was whether or not the status of the economy had affected the Jewish community to the same degree as the general population.
Not five minutes later, a well-to-do client working for a Fortune 500 company with over a decade of seniority called me to tell me how fearful he was about losing his job.
In reality, I don’t know anyone unaffected by current economic realities. While some are more tangibly and negatively affected, we are all touched in some way.
The news is filled with reports of escalating home foreclosures, record job losses, political earmarks, and business failures.
In what is being hailed as a “clever solution,” a major domestic technology company has turned from outsourcing jobs to outsourcing people by offering displaced workers positions in Third World countries at appropriately scaled salaries or wages.
Don’t despair
While many may shake their heads and wonder what’s coming next, those among us who are prone to self-blame, anxiety and/or depression are most vulnerable.
The outcome can often be horrific. Witness the recent murder/suicide in California after both parents were laid off from their jobs with a health maintenance organization. My advice now is to stop listening.
While my age cohort did not experience the Great Depression first hand, it is not as though our current experience is without precedent. It is possible to look back to the farming crisis of the 1980s and the major economic shift antiseptically referred to as “downsizing” that took place in 1987.
The rallying cry in those days was that we were shifting from an agrarian and/or manufacturing economy to an information-based economy that would provide more rewards for greater numbers of people with less expenditure of effort. Little did we know that we would be outsourcing those jobs overseas.
I do have some concrete suggestions for those of you who might have recently lost a job or are fearful of such a fate. Don’t give in to uncertainty or despair.
If at all possible, focus on what is important by taking a long-range view. Put family and community first.
We now know from longitudinal studies of the farming families alluded to above that the worst thing individuals can do is withdraw from their spouses, children, community and other forms of social support.
We know that children are less affected on an emotional level by economic downturn than their parents.
Rand Conger, Ph.D., a professor of psychology, human development and family studies at the University of California-Davis, studied dislocated farmers in Iowa.
According to him, “youngsters weren’t terribly bothered by not having a lot of stuff. What bothered them was when their parents became angry, irritable and withdrawn.” I read that as “keep your eye on the big picture, stay engaged with the people you love.”
In a recent issue of the Wall Street Journal, contributing writer Kevin Helliker suggests that our sudden occupational disorientation is “borne of an over-identification on one’s work and the unmitigated identification of self with occupation and professional status.”
While Helliker’s article may be on-target, it provides little solace for someone who has lost a job and is responsible for putting food on the table.
If you have recently lost a job or fear that you soon might, defy the conventional wisdom of putting your resume in order.
While it’s important to remain optimistic and flexible, it makes little sense to follow the conventional wisdom that looking for a new job should be a full-time occupation. With the current economic readjustment, looking for a job can be more traumatizing than losing one.
I am not suggesting that one should give up looking for new employment. I rather am suggesting that this might be a good time to put an equal amount of focus on valuable tasks such as long-put-off relationships with family and friends, projects around the house, community involvement and good deeds.
There is certainly much that needs to be done, both in our homes and in our communities.
Hirsh Larkey, Psy.D., is vice president of program development and evaluation and director of psychological services at Jewish Family Services.
Where to turn if you need help
Jewish Community Pantry — 414-967-8217
Jewish Family Services — 414-390-5800 www.jfsmilw.org
211 Impact – Dial 211 or 414-773-0211
Aurora Family Service 414-342-4560
Catholic Charities — 414-769-3435
COPE Services, Inc. Hotline — 262-377-1477
Homeownership Preservation Foundation/HOPE Hotline — 888-995-HOPE
Hunger Task Force — 414-964-4444
Impact Emergency Food Pantry Referrals — 866-211-3380
Lutheran Social Services — 414-281-4400
Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board — 414-270-1700 www.milwaukeepic.com
Milwaukee Job Center — 414-374-1800
MATC Career Planning and Counseling Center — 414-297-6267
United Way of Greater Milwaukee — 414-263-8100
Worknet — http://worknet.wisconsin.gov/worknet/default.aspx
Information provided by Hirsh Larkey
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