Older unemployed less likely to find work than younger counterparts

Unemployed over 55-year-olds are still less likely to find work than their younger counterparts, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Friday.

Last year 7 percent of unemployed over 55-year-olds found work within three months. That is more than in previous years, but still less than younger age groups. In the age group 15 to 35 year olds, a third found work within 3 months. Among 35 to 55 year olds, one in five did so.

In 2016 a massive 70 percent of unemployed over 55-year-olds had been unemployed for longer than a year. In the 15 to 35 years age group, this was only 20 percent and in the 35 to 55 group nearly half.

Over the past 10 years the proportion of over 55-year-olds among the unemployed more than doubled. In 2006 just over 10 percent of unemployed in the Netherlands were older than 55 years old. Last year it was 22 percent.