Older Workers Pay Dearly for Balkan Privatisation

"Thousands of older Balkan workers are trapped in poverty as they struggle to find work but cannot retire - a fate they share with their western European counterparts. In Macedonia, dozens of desperate over 50s have been driven to commit suicide. There is an army of unemployed over 50s across the Balkans, an entire generation who suffered the economic fall-out of war, the collapse of the former Yugoslavia and the brunt of their countries’ transition from socialist economies to capitalism. In Croatia, a report published by the ombudsman described older workers as ‘an endangered species’ as a massive 40 per cent of long-term unemployed Croats are aged 50 and above. The already considerable ranks of jobless over 50s have been further swollen by those who lost their jobs in the global recession, not just in the Balkans but across Europe."
  Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence /By Ruzica Matic/more