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Few U.S. Seniors Working; Most People Retire by 65
By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press
March 10, 2006
Americans are living longer, healthier lives than ever before, but they aren't working into their old age nearly as much as seniors did 50 years ago.
A government report released Thursday shows that only 19% of men 65 and older were part of the labor force in 2003, down from 46% in 1950.
Women are working in much larger numbers earlier in life, but among those 65 and older, participation in the labor force has remained steady, at around 10% since 1950.
"Not too long ago, people -- particularly men -- worked until they were physically unable to work," said Robert Friedland, director of the Center on an Aging Society at Georgetown University, a public policy institute in Washington, D.C. "Now, people have a period of time to which they are looking forward."
But they can only look forward to retirement if they are financially prepared, said Friedland, who noted that $1 million in a retirement account isn't that much to live on if you expect be around another 20 or 30 years.
"If you leave the labor force thinking you have plenty, and then realize that you don't, then you are stuck," Friedland said.
Life expectancy for men was 74.1 years in 2000, up from 68.2 years in 1950. Among women, life expectancy was 79.5 years in 2000, up from 71.1 in 1950.
Implications for society
The findings are part of a report thick with statistics on America's senior citizens, titled "65+ in the United States: 2005." It was commissioned by the National Institute on Aging and compiled by the Census Bureau.
They have added importance as the first baby boomers near retirement age. The oldest baby boomers turn 60 this year, and the report suggests that many of them already have left the workforce.
There are about 35 million Americans age 65 and older, a number that is projected to more than double by 2030, according to the report. About 59% of seniors are women.
Benefits play a role
The report attributes the declining work rate among older Americans to the growth in private pensions, Social Security and Medicare benefits. As benefits for older Americans grew in the last half of the 20th Century, fewer saw the need to work beyond age 65, said Mitra Toossi, an economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But the biggest benefit programs face problems. Private pension systems have been defaulting at an alarming rate.
Many companies are abandoning pension plans that guarantee benefits based on years of service and age at retirement.
Medicare, which just added a prescription-drug benefit, faces insolvency in 2020, according to the trust fund that runs it, and Social Security, if left alone, is projected to go broke in 2041."This report tells us that we have made a lot of progress in improving the health and well-being of older Americans, but there is much left to do," Richard Hodes, director of the institute on aging, said in a statement.
Among men 65 and older, the percentage still in the labor force bottomed out in the 1980s and increased slightly since then.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the percentage to increase only slightly in the future.
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