Pew Research recently released a study on the aging American workforce. The study echos other research showing that the workforce is aging and many older Americans want to work beyond the traditional retirement age. Key quote:
"According to one government estimate, 93% of the growth in the U.S. labor force from 2006 to 2016 will be among workers ages 55 and older."
The report introduction has two charts that nicely summarize Pew's findings. The chart below shows that over half of workers over the age of 65 work because they want to.
The second chart (below) shows the impact of the recession on retirement age plans. Many boomers are now expecting to delay their retirement because of the economic downturn.
The recession has come at a bad time for the nation's 76 million baby boomers. The early boomers are just past the age of 60 and don't have a lot of time for the financial markets to recover before they reach traditional retirement age. Even younger boomers have seen their retirement assets and home values decline enough to be concerned about retirement funding.
The good news is (well, at least sort of good news) many baby boomers want to work past the traditional retirement age. The other goods news is boomers will be healthiest older generation ever with many boomers able to work productivity well past retirement age.
Prior to the recession we were forecasting that over half of baby boomers would work past the traditional retirement age. Because of the recession, we now believe this number will be higher.
The aging workforce is garnering the attention of employers who are starting to lose employees to retirement. According to the AARP, 13 percent of the U.S. workforce in 2000 was 55 or older. The U.S. Department of Labor expects this number to increase to 17 percent by 2010. These are workers in all types of jobs and industries.
Posted by: 8gb usb drive | December 16, 2009 at 04:33 AM