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Employment at Older Ages
Despite increasing lifespans, improving health, and declining physical demands of work, most Americans stop working before age 65, earlier than most did 50 years ago. Our research examines when people choose to retire, the benefits of working at older ages, and how current policies discourage more older people from working.
Unemployment Statistics on Older Americans (Fact Sheet / Data at a Glance)Richard W. Johnson, Corina Mommaerts, Janice ParkThe recession has increased joblessness among older Americans. These graphs and tables report unemployment rates and how they have varied by age, sex, race, and education since 2007. | Posted: February 03, 2012 | Availability: HTML | PDF |
Employment and Earnings among 50+ People of Color (Policy Briefs/Retirement Project Brief Series)Richard W. Johnson, Janice ParkThe number of people of color in the workforce will soar in coming decades as the older population expands, grows more diverse, and works longer. However, African Americans and Hispanics age 50 and older face substantial workplace challenges, including relatively low earnings, high unemployment, and limited access to self-employment. Older Asians fare better, but still lag behind their non-Hispanic white counterparts along many dimensions. This data brief shows how recent trends in labor force participation, earnings, self-employment, and unemployment vary by race and Hispanic origin for adults age 50 and older. | Posted: August 16, 2011 | Availability: HTML | PDF |
How Will the Great Recession Affect Future Retirement Incomes? (Series/Older Americans' Economic Security)Barbara Butrica, Richard W. Johnson, Karen E. SmithThe financial impact of the 2007–2009 recession will reverberate into retirement for many working families, even those who did not lose their jobs. Average wages grew very slowly during the downturn, reducing lifetime earnings. Lower earnings leave less income to set aside for retirement and depress future Social Security and pension incomes. Although unusually strong wage growth in coming years could bail out younger workers, there is little recourse for workers now approaching traditional retirement ages. For those age 55 to 59 in 2008, the Great Recession will reduce average age-70 incomes by 5 percent. | Posted: May 26, 2011 | Availability: HTML | PDF |
The Potential Impact of the Great Recession on Future Retirement Incomes (Series/The Retirement Project Occasional Papers)Barbara Butrica, Richard W. Johnson, Karen E. SmithThis study examines the long-run effects of the Great Recession on future retirement incomes for working-age adults in 2008. The recession will reduce average annual incomes at age 70 by 4 percent, primarily because the downturn slowed wage growth. More than 700,000 adults will fall into or near poverty at age 70 because of the Great Recession. Unless wage levels rebound sharply, future retirement incomes will decline most sharply for those workers who were youngest when the recession began. They are most likely to have lost their jobs and the impact of lower wages will accumulate over their entire careers. | Posted: May 26, 2011 | Availability: HTML | PDF |
50+ African American Workers: A Status Report, Implications, and Recommendations (Research Report)Richard W. Johnson, Owen Haaga, Margaret SimmsThis report assesses the employment experiences and economic well-being of African Americans age 50 and older. Despite progress over the past three decades, these African American workers continue to struggle in the workplace. Older African American men are less likely to work than Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites, whereas older African American women are as likely to work as non-Hispanic whites and more likely to work than Hispanics. Fifty-plus African American men and women both earn less than their non-Hispanic white counterparts. The black-white earnings gap after age 50 narrowed between 1979 and 1999 but widened in the 2000s. | Posted: March 17, 2011 | Availability: HTML |
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