The unemployment rate may be dropping, but America's seniors will be feeling the recession's effects for years to come. After an economic crash, a housing crisis and unexpected job losses, an increasing number of Americans are unsure whether they'll be able to retire, while those who have been forced into retiring early are barely scraping by.

Aging Americans are rightfully concerned about their financial future. The number of people working past age 64 has nearly doubled in the last 20 years, but only 1 in 3 who lose their job are likely to be hired again. And without a secure plan like a pension, those forced into early retirement may be solely relying on Social Security. Among Americans over age 50, 43% say their savings haven't recovered since 2007, and nearly a quarter of them have lost all of their savings.

Watch the following segment, in which Al Jazeera English reports on the devastating effects the recession has had on the American dream of a secure retirement: