Americans younger and older facing difficult job prospects are often portrayed at odds, trapped in a win-lose dynamic of generational conflict. There can be no question that both groups are struggling — unemployment is at record heights for younger Americans, while older adults who are laid off have the longest periods of unemployment. Often this situation is described in ways that pit older workers against younger ones, arguing that if older workers would just move out of the way it would make it easier for younger workers to get their foot in the door.

However, a new survey by Participant Media and Encore.org finds that a presumed "zero-sum" relationship between generations that has become a recent fixture of media commentary doesn't reflect the views of adults over 50, and belies the deep sense of interdependence between younger and older generations¹. Adults over 50 overwhelmingly describe a strong desire to help make the world better for those younger than themselves.

¹ A new study from the Pew Charitable Trusts' Economic Mobility Project also refutes the misconception, showing that over the longer term younger workers actually gain jobs as older workers increase their labor force participation.

The Marigold Effect: Research Highlights

WORRIES ABOUT THE DIRECTION OF THE COUNTRY TRUMP CONCERNS ABOUT HEALTH OR PERSONAL FINANCES

• 45% are most worried that the country is headed in the wrong direction
• 41% worry about their physical health
• 35% worry about having enough money for their retirement
• 24% worry about their children or grandchildren having a rewarding life

MOST FEEL A RESPONSIBILITY TO HELP THOSE LESS FORTUNATE THAN THEMSELVES

• 87% say they feel a responsibility to help those who are worse off
• Nearly three in ten (29%) say they feel this way even if it required a sacrifice of time, money or employment opportunities to help.
• Half want to do more to have a positive impact on their community
• Nearly one on four (37%) are currently volunteering in some capacity.
• The vast majority see volunteering as an opportunity to do good (94%), to learn new things (87%) and to use their talents (83%). Only 31% saw it as a sacrifice.

SPECIFICALLY, THEY FEEL AN OBLIGATION TO YOUNGER GENERATIONS

• Nearly two out of three (65%) feel they have had a positive impact on younger generations.
• More than half (54%) say they want to do more.
• More than eight in ten (84%) have some interaction with younger people outside of their family. More than a quarter (27%) has a lot of interaction. Virtually all say that they like how these interactions make them feel (89%) and that they like being able to help (95%)

Two-thirds of respondents had made a personal contribution to the well-being of younger generations in the past six months, with a third (34%) having made a charitable contribution to an organization serving children or youth and 16% having volunteered their time there. Three in ten said the time or money involved was significant but was not a hard decision for them.

DESPITE THEIR OWN FINANCIAL CONCERNS, THEY UNDERSTAND THE CHALLENGES YOUNGER WORKERS ARE FACING AND WANT TO HELP.

• More than half say their economic situation has worsened somewhat (32%) or a great deal (23%) since the start of the recession. And those who are still working were most likely to feel their financial situation has worsened a great deal (27%).
• 61% feel that older workers attempting to stay in the workforce have a harder time than younger adults just entering the workforce.
• 87% feel that it’s harder now for younger people to find work than it was for them when they were young.
• 65% disagree with the statement that older adults working longer are to blame for the difficulties that younger people are having.
• Although they don’t see it as their fault, more than eight out of ten of those who are currently working are willing to mentor a younger person entering their field even if it involved a sacrifice of their own free time. Nearly seven out of ten were either very (20%) or somewhat (48%) willing to take some other action that involved a financial sacrifice, with those over 65 most willing to do so.
• Those willing to help cut across the socio-economic spectrum. About half (44-58%) have household assets under $100,000. More than half (55-59%) have annual incomes under $60,000. And roughly the same percentage (43-54%) have never completed college.

Click here to download the full survey results.

This research was completed by Penn Schoen Berland with support from Encore.org and Participant Media.

About Encore.Org (www.encore.org)
Encore.org (formerly Civic Ventures) is a nonprofit organization building a movement to make it easier for millions of people to pursue “encore careers” – second acts for the greater good.

About Participant Media (www.participantmedia.com)
Participant Media is an entertainment company that focuses on documentary and non-documentary feature films, television, publishing and digital content about the real issues that shape our lives. For each of its projects, Participant creates social action and advocacy programs to transform the impact of the media experience into individual and community action. Participant’s online Social Action Network is TakePart (takepart.com). Founded by Chairman Jeff Skoll in 2004, Jim Berk serves as CEO. Participant's films include The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson's War, An Inconvenient Truth, Good Night, and Good Luck, The Visitor, Food, Inc., The Cove, The Crazies, Countdown to Zero, Waiting for "Superman,” Fair Game, PAGE ONE: Inside The New York Times, The Help, Contagion, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Lincoln and Promised Land.

About Penn Schoen Berland (www.psbresearch.com)
Penn Schoen Berland, a unit of the WPP Group (NASDAQ: WPPGY), is a global research-based consultancy with over 30 years of experience that specializes in messaging and communications strategy for blue-chip political, corporate, nonprofit and entertainment clients.