50-Year-Old Unemployed Woman Who Has Sent In 4,000 Job Applications May Have To Move In With Her Mom After 'Relentless' Rejections
Raushan_films | Shutterstock In an interview with The Independent, Tina Chummun, who has sent out a total of 4,000 job applications with no luck, admitted that due to not being able to get a job, she's had to make some hard decisions regarding her living situation.
Job hunting is nothing but stressful, especially in this current market where unemployed people are having to fight tooth and nail just to get an interview. Some people are spending months and even years without success and feeling incredibly defeated. For individuals in midlife, however, the situation is particularly volatile.
A 50-year-old unemployed woman may have to move in with her mom after 'relentless rejections.'
For the past two years, Chummun has sent out thousands of job applications, but because she hasn't heard back or had much success getting hired, she's now thousands of pounds in debt to her mortgage lender and is facing the possibility of having to move in with her mom. After losing her job in April 2024, Chummun has been working part-time selling her counseling and marketing services, but has been unable to earn enough to cover her bills.
Despite having an undergraduate degree, two master's degrees in marketing and psychotherapy, and being in her third year of a health and social care doctorate, none of her impressive qualifications are paying off at all. She insisted that the U.K. government needs to step in and help older people like her struggling to find a job because the job market isn't particularly kind to people her age.
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"I love working; it gives me a sense of purpose and meaning. I don’t want to retire. It’s so frustrating, and I’m trying everything... I want to get up and go to work. I don’t want to claim benefits. I can’t claim benefits because I’m self-employed, but I don’t want to," Chummun told The Independent.
If Chummun is unable to find a job within the next year, she might have to move back in with her mom, who is currently supporting her financially.
The job market is especially cruel to those who hold college degrees.
Even in America, recent college grads are struggling to find employment. Although graduates from the Class of 2025 submitted more job applications than their 2024 counterparts, 10 and six, respectively, they received fewer job offers on average than did the previous class, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
In a separate report by education technology company Cengage Group, only 30% of 2025 graduates said they had secured a full-time job in their field, and only 41% of the Class of 2024 said they had done so.
“For the first time in modern history, a bachelor’s degree is no longer a reliable path to professional employment,” Gad Levanon, chief economist at the Burning Glass Institute, told CNBC.
Employment is even scarcer for adults over 50.
Findings from a study laid out the difficulties older workers have holding onto a job so they can retire on their own terms, even when the economy is doing well. Over the last several decades, more than half of the older Americans who had been employed in stable jobs have been pushed out of employment at some point late in their careers.
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AARP found that older adults are facing a plethora of reasons why it's hard for them to find jobs, and one of those reasons is age discrimination. Over the past three years, the number of age discrimination complaints filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has steadily increased. During 2024, there were a total of 16,223 complaints, up from 14,144 in 2023 and 11,500 in 2022.
Chummun admitted that the job hunt is harder because companies want younger employees.
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Since she's consistently heard that she's overqualified or unsuitable for roles, Chummun would like to see similar efforts by the government to encourage older people back into the workforce. But in order for that to happen, companies need to be reminded that everyone deserves a fair wage for their efforts. That's exactly why so many Gen Zers are struggling to find work, as well. Entry-level jobs are disappearing, and the few that are available pay peanuts.
“Unemployment is rising, and wage growth is declining for young adults, which could have a long-term scarring impact,” said Grace Zwemmer, associate economist at Oxford Economics and author of the Cengage report. Ultimately, the job market is a mess unless you are at the top
She explained that digital marketing is a particularly difficult field to get work in for older people, as it is "quite a young industry, and also there are lots of stigmas and lots of stereotypes about older people not being digitally savvy."
The reality Chummun has to face is disheartening, and it can surely feel next to impossible after probably hearing "no" so many times. Like so many others, both in the U.K. and the United States, she's simply waiting for something to turn around in her favor.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
