We’re Married and Work in Our 80s. We Don’t Have Plans to Stop.

This as-told-to essay is based on conversations with Jack and Ardith Weber, a married couple of 65 years who both still work for financial reasons. Jack, 88, works at his county’s library in Kentucky, while Ardith, 83, works as a senior medical patrol worker and an assistant for an anti-poverty organization.

Both took part in digital skills training through Goodwill, which administers the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), a program created in 1965 to assist low-income adults 55 and older in finding work. Over $300 million in national funding to SCSEP was paused in July. Many employees in the program may lose their jobs, and many looking for work may lose access to one of the nation’s only job training programs for older Americans.

A Department of Labor spokesperson told Business Insider: “The funding for SCSEP national grantees is under review.”

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Jack Weber: I’m 88 and work two hours every other day at our county library.

Ardith Weber: I’m 83 years old and work a maximum of 26 hours a week at two part-time jobs.

We really need to work because in 2017, we purchased a home and didn’t expect the expenses that came up, like the cost of redoing the floors.

Without my SCSEP training, I couldn’t do these jobs. It’s been such a blessing to me. The program is so considerate of elderly people. I never had to worry about being mistreated and have been shown respect and dignity. Our memories aren’t as good as they used to be, and many times, we try to articulate what we want to say, but it doesn’t work. Taking the classes and working through situations in lessons was really helpful.

Now the government’s doing cuts and all kinds of things with grants.

Business Insider’s “80 over 80” series draws on interviews with the growing group of Americans working past their 80th birthdays. They discussed their careers, retirement planning, living expenses, healthcare, and life lessons. If you are 80 and older and still work, fill out this form to contribute to the series and read more here:

We worked many different jobs across our careers

Jack: Early in my career, I did a multitude of different jobs to stay afloat. One of the most fascinating jobs I’ve ever had was my first — running a printing press.

I worked in a greenhouse and in the fields in Washington state, and was a truck driver in Seattle, working behind a street sweeper on the freeway.

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Ardith: My first job was in an office doing invoices until the company moved. From there, I worked in a nursing home. After we married, I worked in adult foster care while Jack decided to go to college.

Jack: I got my bachelor’s degree in counseling and theology.

Ardith: I became a cook in the college kitchen. After Jack graduated, we went into ministry and worked at a campground. I did the support tasks like answering the telephones, teaching some classes, and scrubbing the floors.

Looking for jobs in our 60s and beyond

Jack: In 2000, I started in an SCSEP program in Cadillac, Michigan, when I was searching for a job in my 60s. I didn’t know anything about computers and wanted to learn. The program would teach me those skills, although the work I’d do wouldn’t be on a computer.

Through SCSEP, I started at the Forest Service and worked in a garage, cleaning up cars and trucks. I wanted to move to Kentucky, so I called all the different Forest Service locations to see if there were any openings. They kept telling me no. Eventually, I found an opening for the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.

From there, I landed a job as a dispatcher. I did that for almost three years, and then drove a school bus for eight and a half years.

Ardith: I started at SCSEP a year after Jack and also worked at the Forest Service. I stayed at home for a while after that, then worked at a hearing aid store.

New jobs 80 years into life

Jack: In 2019, I got involved with SCSEP again, through Goodwill. I first worked for an organization called The Good Samaritan, which handed out food for low-income folks, and then I was moved to a new job with the Logan County Public Library.

One day, I was sitting there doing the skills-building work that Goodwill requires, like learning how to use the computer. Along came the library director, who said to me, “You want to do that kind of work, Jack?” I said sure — I figured it would be a whole lot better than dusting book covers.

He took me into this back room with all these old books, and told me he wanted me to make some indexes for them. Every day, I set up my computer and sit down with a book, going through each page and looking for names. For every name I find, I write down where I found it.

Ardith: When we moved to our current home in Kentucky, we didn’t know anybody in the area, and I suspected my mental health wouldn’t be good if I stayed home, so I re-enrolled in SCSEP in 2020.

Through the program, I got jobs at a community center and a senior center. I also took basic computer lessons.

In my work now with the Kentucky Senior Medical Patrol, I give talks at senior centers and health fairs about Medicare and Medicare fraud, including how to protect yourself and what not to do.

Our jobs allow us to help people

Jack: Most people would say my job is the most boring thing you could ever do. But it gets me out of the house, and I get a lot of joy from it. There are people who come in asking if there’s anything on the shelves that would help them know what their relative looked like when they were young. They’ll sit on the floor and go through our school yearbooks. All of a sudden, I hear them say, “That’s what they looked like when they were 18. They sure don’t look like that now.”

Ardith: My second job is as a support staff member with the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and Community Services Block Grant, which helps qualifying residents pay their utility bills. My supervisor does all of the interviews, and I do the filings with people’s addresses and phone numbers.

We have lots of young people who need help coming through our office — younger families who haven’t been able to find work or have disabilities. Things have gotten really expensive, and their income isn’t high enough to take care of everything.

We don’t have plans to stop working

Jack: I work two hours every other day. I used to work four hours a day, but I had a heart issue and had to lay off work.

After being home for three months, I called the director and said, “Can I please come back? I can’t stand this anymore. Sitting at home drives me nuts.” He told me that once I got clearance from my doctor, I could walk right in. I got cleared by my primary doctor; I do have to go back to my heart doctor, though.

Now, I’m thankful to be back. I told my director that I’ll work two hours every other day until I’m back up to speed.

He says he’s glad to see me and that he’s got so much for me to do. “You’ll have to be 100 years old before you can ever retire,” he says. It’s a plus for me because I don’t ever have to worry about running out of work to do.

Ardith: He tells me all about how the other ladies who work there have done this and that for him. When his computer didn’t work and he couldn’t figure it out, this gal came and helped him. I get all of that feedback when he gets home.

I hope to keep working all the time. Otherwise, I’d just sit at home with the television, which is as boring as can be. I love to garden, but physically, I just can’t do that anymore. I couldn’t ask for a better current work situation. My supervisors are encouraging and supportive.

I need to be around people; if I’m not, it does things to my mental health. I don’t want that to happen.