More and more Americans are spending their golden years on the job.
Almost 19 percent of people 65 or older were working at least part time in the second quarter of 2017, according to the U.S. jobs report released on Friday. The age group's employment/population ratio hasn't been higher in 55 years, before American retirees won better health care and Social Security benefits starting in the late 1960s.
And the trend looks likely to continue.
Certainly baby boomers are increasingly ignoring the traditional retirement age of 65. Last quarter, 32 percent of Americans 65 to 69 were employed. Even past age 70, a growing number of people are declining to, or unable to, retire. Last quarter, 19 percent of 70- to 74-year-olds were working, up from 11 percent in 1994.
Older Americans are working more even as those under 65 are working less, a trend that the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects to continue. By 2024, 36 percent of 65- to 69-year-olds will be active participants in the labor market, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. That's up from just 22 percent in 1994.
A number of factors are keeping older Americans in the workforce. Many are healthier and living longer than previous generations. Some decide not to fully retire because they enjoy their jobs or just want to stay active and alert.
Others need the money. The longer you work, the easier it is to afford a comfortable retirement. Longer lives and rising health care costs have made retirement more expensive at the same time that stagnant wages and the decline of the traditional pension have made it harder to save enough.
The U.S. isn't the only place people are planning to work longer. Around the globe, workers of all ages are moving their retirement goals later and later in life.
Even after they consider themselves officially "retired," most Americans are hoping to work a little bit. According to a survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 79 percent of U.S. workers expect to supplement their retirement income by working.
There's a big problem with these plans. Just because a person wants to work doesn't mean he can.
When surveyed, 61 percent of American retirees say they retired sooner than they'd planned. That's more than anywhere else in the world, according to the 2017 Aegon Retirement Readiness Survey of 16,000 people in 15 countries. Globally, 39 percent of retirees say they quit working early. Even part-time work may be unrealistic. The Employee Benefit Research Institute finds that just 29 percent of retirees say they worked for pay at some point in their retirement.
Health problems may force some workers to quit. While longevity has generally improved along with medical care, especially for the wealthy and well educated, more recent trends in the U.S. show many Americans' health deteriorating.
"Although age discrimination has been illegal for 50 years, employers continue to see older workers as a liability," said Ruth Milkman, a sociology professor at the City University of New York. Senior citizens who want to extend a full-time career may be forced to take temporary jobs, for example, or work as independent contractors.
"Frozen out of standard employment, older workers turn to more precarious [and less well-compensated] employment," Milkman said at a conference last month.
Rather than retire, older workers sometimes switch from traditional jobs to self-employment, according to a study released last month by the National Bureau of Economic Research that analyzed U.S. tax and survey data. In the process, they often switch occupations as well. They pay an economic price for going solo, the study finds, with average annual earnings dropping by $18,160 for older workers.
SundayMonday Business on 07/16/2017