Coping with job loss after the age of 40

The thesis deals with the phenomenon of unemployment among persons older than 40 years. This is an extremely vulnerable group in the labor market, which reckons with the loss of employment and its consequences in a particularly difficult way. We are different and therefore also reactions to the loss of a job are different, however, the loss of employment or unemployment is a multidimensional phenomenon and extremely stressful event that affects all areas of one's life as well as his loved ones. In today's society employment represents a central part of everyday life and provides individual status, prestige, identity, financial independence and social inclusion. In the thesis I will explore what are the consequences of loss of employment among older unemployed persons and what strategies of copying with the situation they use. Older unemployed are already in stressful situation even more compromised due to the occurrence of age discrimination and ageism in the labor market and with this related long-term unemployment. The empirical part is based on qualitative research, in which I included five persons older than 40 years who have unemployment status of at least one year. I was wondering what experience these persons with the loss of employment and how they live after the event. At the same time I focused on the different consequences associated with the loss of employment, and changes in living areas. I was also interested what strategies of copying with the stressful situation these people used. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, which I have analyzed by using the qualitative methods and summarized in a reasonable theory. I have found out that all the respondents experienced unemployment as a negative, stressful event that caused changes in all areas of their lives (material, psychological, social and health status of individuals). However, there are differences among the interviewees of dealing with unemployment; they depend on various individual factors such as age, sex, conditions, of unemployment, personality characteristics, sources of support and aggravating factors