Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Back to Work We Go, May Be New
Theme Song for Senior Citizens in U.S.
Current financial crisis may force more baby boomers,
seniors to stay in or join the workforce; it already getting crowed with
these older workers
Sept. 30, 2008 The collapse of the financial
markets will hit many retired senior citizens as well as baby boomers
nearing retirement especially hard as they see their retirement
savings disappear with falling stock prices and failing banks.
Certainly, it raises the prospect that more older Americans will remain
or return to the workforce. SeniorJournal.com has found a recent
report
on older workers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that shows this is
already a booming occurrence workers 65+ are increasing faster than
the rest of the workforce.
This report was prepared in July, long before the
financial collapse, but it already projected a continued boom in the
number of older workers.
BLS data show that the total labor force is
projected to increase by 8.5 percent during the period 2006-2016, but
when analyzed by age categories, very different trends emerge.
The number of workers in the youngest group, age
16-24, is projected to decline during the period while the number of
workers age 25-54 will rise only slightly. In sharp contrast, workers
age 55-64 are expected to climb by 36.5 percent.
The BLS Report on Older Workers
Between 1977 and 2007,
employment of workers 65 and over increased 101 percent, compared to
a much smaller increase of 59 percent for
total employment (16 and over), according to this spotlight report,
Older Workers: Are there more older people in the workplace?
Does this
increase just reflect the aging of the baby-boom population?
No, because in 2007 the baby-boom generation
those individuals born between 1946 and 1964 had not yet reached the
age of 65.
Between 1977 and 2007, the age 65 and older
civilian noninstitutional population which excludes people in nursing
homes increased by about 60 percent, somewhat faster than the civilian
noninstitutional population age 16 and over (46 percent). Yet employment
of people 65 and over doubled while employment for everyone 16 and over
increased by less than 60 percent. How can employment increase more than
the population? A larger share of people 65 and older is staying in or
returning to the labor force (which consists of those working or looking
for work). The labor force participation rate for older workers has been
rising since the late 1990s. This is especially notable because the
65-and-over labor force participation rate had been at historic lows
during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Are older workers
choosing part-time or full-time employment?
Since the mid-1990s there has been a dramatic shift
in the part-time versus full-time status of the older workforce. The
ratio of part-time to full-time employment among older workers was
relatively steady from 1977 through 1990.
Between 1990 and 1995, part-time work among older
workers began trending upward with a corresponding decline in full-time
employment. But after 1995, that trend began a marked reversal with
full-time employment rising sharply.
Between 1995 and 2007, the number of older workers
on full-time work schedules nearly doubled while the number working
part-time rose just 19 percent. As a result, full-timers now account for
a majority among older workers: 56 percent in 2007, up from 44 percent
in 1995.
In 1977, about one-third of employed women 65 and
older were married, but by 2007, married women accounted for nearly
one-half of these workers.
Women workers who were widowed, divorced or
separated represented 56 percent of employed women 65 and older in 1977;
by 2007 their share had fallen to 48 percent.
During the same time period, the fraction of older
women workers who were never married shrank from about 11 percent to
about 6 percent.
How do older
workers stack up against younger workers in terms of education?
It wasn't that long ago that older and younger
workers had very different educational backgrounds. In 1997, 21 percent
of employed older workers had less than a high school education compared
to only 10 percent of those ages 25-64.
By 2007, older workers with less than a high school
education accounted for just 13 percent of that groups employment,
compared with 9 percent for younger workers.
How do wages of
older workers measure up against wages for all workers?
Earnings of workers 65 and older have long been
below those of all workers. In 1979, median weekly earnings for
full-time workers age 65 and older were $198 compared to $240 for all
full-time employees age 16 and up.
In 2007, earnings of older workers were $605 per
week, still below the median of $695 for all workers. (All of these
earnings amounts are in current dollars.)
Over the long term, however, earnings of older
workers have risen at a slightly faster pace than the total workforce.
In 1979, median earnings of older full-time employees were 83 percent of
those ages 16 and up; but, by 2007, that ratio had climbed to 87
percent.
A number of years ago, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics created an experimental consumer price index (CPI) for
Americans 62 years of age and older. In this index, items purchased more
frequently by the older population, such as medical care, have a higher
weight than in the official CPI (which covers a much broader share of
the population); items purchased less frequently, such as clothing, have
a lower weight.
Data from the experimental series show that the
annual inflation rate for seniors has been equal to or greater than the
inflation rate for all urban consumers in every year since that series
began except for 1983 and 2007. However, the yearly differences have
been fairly small; over the past 25 years the index for older Americans
has risen an average of 3.3 percent each year, as compared to 3.1
percent for the official CPI.
Editor's Note: A major impact of senior citizens
related to inflation is the annual increase in Social Security benefits
known as COLA - the cost-of-living adjustment. It is based on inflation
as reflected by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and
Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the months of July, August and September.
Read more in the Social Security
section.
Among all workers, participation in defined benefit
plans has fallen while participation in defined contribution plans has
risen. In defined benefit plans, companies promise to pay workers a
specified amount in retirement benefits. In defined contribution plans,
companies promise to contribute a specified amount, but make no
assurance as to the final payout.
Among all workers, there has been a decrease in the
percentage covered by defined benefit (payout) plans and an increase
in the percentage covered by defined contribution (pay in) plans. For
more and more workers, this means that risk in terms of steady
retirement income has been transferred from the employer to the
eventual retiree.
Is this graying
of the workforce expected to continue?
Definitely.
BLS data show that the total labor force is
projected to increase by 8.5 percent during the period 2006-2016, but
when analyzed by age categories, very different trends emerge.
The number of workers in the youngest group, age
16-24, is projected to decline during the period while the number of
workers age 25-54 will rise only slightly. In sharp contrast, workers
age 55-64 are expected to climb by 36.5 percent.
But the most dramatic growth is projected for the
two oldest groups. The number of workers between the ages of 65 and 74
and those aged 75 and up are predicted to soar by more than 80 percent.
By 2016, workers age 65 and over are expected to account for 6.1 percent
of the total labor force, up sharply from their 2006 share of 3.6
percent. (For more data see
Civilian labor force by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin.)
Country grows weary and weakened with every hour
and every day that Congress refuses to take action toward protecting
home values, retirement dreams and younger generation's opportunities
Sept. 30, 2008
"Older Americans are hit by a one-two punch of jobs and medical
problems...
report
on older workers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that shows this is
already a booming occurrence workers 65+ are increasing faster than
the rest of the workforce.
Source:
