Older Americans are working longer. Some want to; others have to.
www.vox.com
How long will baby boomers keep working? For some, the answer is forever.

How long will baby boomers keep working? For some, the answer is forever.

To grossly paraphrase Kim Kardashian, nobody stops working anymore. Just look at who’s in the running for the top job in the nation: a 77-year-old against an 81-year-old, both vying to keep working for another four years. Yet they’re in lockstep with a national trend — older Americans are working longer, into their 60s and even their 70s and beyond. Among Americans 65 and older, 19 percent were still working last year, which is almost a twofold increase from the late 1980s.

Last year, the average retirement age was 62, according to a Gallup survey, up from 59 in the early 2000s. Older people aren’t just delaying retirement, but working longer hours: On average, this group’s annual work hours are almost 30 percent higher than they were in 1987.

The question of why is hard to answer. People keep working because they want to and because they have to, and sometimes a mix of both. “You can think of it as both a reflection of empowered preferences to go work more and longer — versus curtailed savings that force you into the labor force. They’re both happening,” says economist Kathryn Edwards.

  • stoly@lemmy.world
    23·
    9 months ago

    I read elsewhere that Boomers are the generation entering the workforce in highest numbers. I suspect that part of the problem is that pensions were a thing when Boomers were young, they only went away in the late 80s to mid 90s. I have to imagine that millions never adjusted for this fact and didn’t actually work on putting away a retirement savings. Now you have millions of people who suddenly realize that they will live 20 years past their savings and have no choice but to do something about it.

    • phdepressed@sh.itjust.works
      12·
      9 months ago

      Older genX also hasn’t done well either. The personal finance sub was full of people concerned about older parents and relatives not having savings or living ability when shit hits the fan and questioning how to manage their own families + the elders.

      • stoly@lemmy.world
        5·
        9 months ago

        I’ve heard that. And to make it worse, some states have familiar responsibility laws. You can actually be taken to court and forced to spend tens of thousands of dollars on your parents.