Older Americans not working as late in life as they used to

[ckramer]

What are they talking about? If they don't work, they better stop eating. Lies.

=====================

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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, their 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. "Now, people have a period of time to which they are looking forward."

link

[DavidDvorkin]

1. Statistical artifact due to people living longer, perhaps

If you just look at, say, men aged 65-75, how would that compare to 50 years ago? I suspect you'd find that a higher percentage of men in that age bracket are working now than did then.

[saigon68]

15. Cat food is good

I hear

[Mithras61]

2. Maybe it's because they can't get a JOB anymore...

How many of them would work if the jobs were available? I keep seeing that people over about 55 can hang up any plans to get another job unless it's as a greeter at Wally World of "do you want fries with that" stuff.

[Warpy]

3. People start getting forced out of their jobs in their mid 50s

and generally have to make do with a patchwork of shit jobs until their social security kicks in. By then, they've learned how to live on poverty wages so that social security sustains them, especially if there is a pension somewhere.

Do YOU want to work at McDonald's in your 60s and 70s?

Didn't think so.

[hollowdweller]

37. Bingo. Most jobs are shit high stress anymore. Old people can't take it.

[RebelOne]

4. Well, I am one of those older Americans who is still working.

I should have been retired 2 years ago, but I can't afford to retire. I'm collecting social security along with my salary and frantically trying to save enough to retire within the next couple of years.

[KOBUK]

14. I will be 65 this year and plan to keep working and saving !

You are aware that you can put as much as $20,000.00 in your 401k plan and shelter it from taxes, aren't you?

[pitohui]

5. i doubt this is voluntary

i know lots of people retired in their 50s, it is not because they don't wanna work, it's because well the company got bought out and it was take early retirement or eventually get canned w. a less attractive severance anyway, or it was get canned for being too expensive and never being able to get another real job again, or, in quite a few cases, it was a disability sufficient to keep the person from being employable on anybody's health insurance program, w. heart disease many people could work if only someone would hire them

certainly men (and women) above age 65 are in a fragile position w/r/to work, esp. if they are over-qualified or the opposite situation where their skills are no longer of value because they have experience on outdated equipment

[BiggJawn]

6. Well, the GOP is just gonna have to reverse that trend!

At the current rate, I'll be lucky to have enough sick days to get paid for the day I die...

[quiet.american]

7. Age discrimination, anyone?

This kind of coverage rarely takes into consideration the ugly facts of life.

It's damn hard to find a job, and 100 times that when you get to be a certain age.

[raccoon]

10. Amen to that.

I can think right off-hand of several young, well-educated people I know who've had a helluva time getting a "real" job.

And if you're of a certain age....forget it.

[slackmaster]

26. I've seen age discrimination in action

It can be very hard to prove.

Luckily I'm blessed with a youthful appearance.

[Chef]

8. Working Longer

The operative part is on down the page where it says that the numbers bottomed out in the '80s and has increased slightly. Given the pension failures and increased costs, people are having to work longer now. Therefore, the golden age of early retirement is over. A more meaningful story would be to track how things have gone since the '80s.

[Vinca]

9. If they're getting their statistics from employers, they ought to

dig deeper. I sell on ebay and finding stuff is nearly impossible because of the hoards of older people (moi included) mobbing yard sales, auctions, estate sales, etc. Just because you aren't on someone's personnel roster doesn't mean you aren't working to make a living somehow.

[LostinVA]

11. Every person I know over 65 works, because they can't afford not to

Even white collar professionals.

[quiet.american]

12. Hello! My boss is just shy of 70 years old. n/t

[LostinVA]

20. I have several colleagues between 65-68 who have been

working at the same place for ALMOST 40 YEARS and still can't afford to retire -- mainly because of health care costs!

[RebelOne]

24. I'm a white collar professional and over 65

And that's right, I can't afford not to work.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

13. Retirement will never be an option for me and mine.

I accepted that a long time ago. I can't believe we're the only ones.

[VaYallaDawg]

16. You're not alone, Goddess.

I turned 65 last December - still plugging away at it every day. Retirement is not an option. It's interesting too - seems like the younger kids on the job are the ones who miss sick days all the time. We old coots just keep on going. Probably because we don't know any better!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

17. At least I love my work. :-)

My dad died at age 59, three months shy of retirement from his government job, which he hated. He wanted to be a geologist; but he was afraid he wouldn't be able to support his family, so he went for a gov't gig.

I hope arthritis doesn't force me to stop playing. But if it does, I'll deal with it. Best of luck to you!

[VaYallaDawg]

18. Forgot to mention - I love my work too, look forward to it every day!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

19. I'm glad to hear that!

Happier is healthier! :hi:

[Steven Mitchell]

21. The Baby Boom is the LAST GENERATION TO RETIRE

Hi.

It seems that the Baby Boom, at least the early phases of it, will be the last generation in the United States to retire. Most pension plans in the U.S. that enabled retirement of workers have been dismantled in the last several years. I know that anyone working at Chase Manhattan Bank or Credit Suisse Bank after the year 2000, no longer qualified for a pension plan as the Wall Street firms had to pay for their financial screw-ups somehow (Enron, Global Crossing, MCI-Worldcom, etc.). So those programs were entirely discontinued. As of April, 2006, no one at the New York Stock Exchange can vested past that date and as of that date, there are no future contributions to the pension plan.

Americas corporations have to costs to compete in the "global economy" and in doing so that they have reduce worker benefits . So now workers will rely on 401K's (which are nearly meaningless) and NO health insurance. I can't even think of a company on Wall Street that will be providing health benefits to their former employees when they retire as part of their package. I have a friend who has been at Credit Suisse since she was 18, is now in early 40's and has been told she will no longer qualify for health benefits because they are discontinuing that plan.

I personally never expected to receive benefits from a corporation (I am 48, because the press has been telling me since I was in high school that there wouldn't be enough to go around...) and that reality is now here. I think one of the greatest shocks and travesties of the 21st Century is when most Americans realize that they can NEVER retire. If you are under 50, the odds are that you have less than a slight chance of retiring from private industry. Government workers at this point, will still be able to retire, but as far as the private sector goes, that is gone...

Ironically, Europe, looking at the "success" of America is grappling with the same issues and looking to cut the same corners. I can't imagine why the bigger picture is so hard to see, and why the "planners" don't realize that if the private sector doesn't pay, the public sector will have to - and as far as Europe goes, if the public sector doesn't pay, the private sector will have to... or maybe we can all just live in the streets as one big happy family... "The Affluent Society" of John Kenneth Galbraith has mortgaged off its future for a giant balloon mortgage that will be due around 2015.

Thank God for outsourcing... It will shift the costs (and benefits) of American workers overseas where retirement is not currently an issue and where Third World countries that are largely socialist such as India, won't have to contribute to American workers retirements. The current shift of revenues from the industrialized world to the Third World, "the Flattening of the World," as Thomas Friedman so thoughtlessly calls it, will spread the wealth, at our expense and at our pain.

But of course, living in a capitalist democracy that depends on a pendulum swing to draw attention to its problems, it won't become apparent until it is a crisis and the possible solution has already passed...

And So It Goes...

[sadiesworld]

22. Depressing, but accurate.

Nice first post.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[slackmaster]

29. Welcome to DU - Nice first post!

I'm 48 as well.

:toast:

Pension plans were a thing of my parents' generation and before. I've never worked for a company that offered a traditional or defined-benefit plan, only 401k. I'm making contributions to my third 401k now. I transferred the two previous ones into Rollover IRAs.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

33. Welcome to DU!

I suspect our inability to retire will ultimately lead to more seniors moving in with their kids and taking on responsibilities of daycare and light housework...at least until they are no longer mobile or so far gone mentally that they require constant nursing.

[RebelOne]

25. I also love my job.

I am paid for something I love to do, which is read. So as long as my eyesight holds out, I will keep working.

[pitohui]

28. old coots have been exposed to more viruses

you probably have higher resistance to most of the cold and flu viruses going around because your immune system has encountered them or similar before

i notice that i have significantlly fewer cases of the sniffles than i did when i was young and every winter meant weeks of drowning in my own snot, really, it's the best part of getting older if i have to get older!

[VaYallaDawg]

30. I never thought of it that way, pitohui!

Anyhow, I think most of us would agree that getting older is better than not getting older. Going backward just ain't an option!

Have a great weekend!

[geniph]

32. Younger workers often have kids at home

and kids are walking petri dishes - they bring every pathogen known to mankind home from school. People with kids at home always get sick more than people without. I quit getting a cold or sinus infection every two months when my stepsons moved out.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

34. good point

Walking petri dishes... :rofl:

[slackmaster]

27. I'll be able to throttle back when I'm 60 but plan to continue working

At least part-time or at some kind of home-based business.

I say age 60 only because that's the year my house will be paid off if I stick with the current loan. P&I cost me just over $1K per month. With that expense gone I'll be in pretty good shape, if I can find work.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

36. Yes, scaling back is almost always necessary

And it seems as I get older, I have less desire to accumulate "stuff". So hopefully, my shorter work schedule will accomodate my budget. :)

[watercolors]

23. 73, still working

I teach part-time, it's something I love and enjoy. I am an artist and the possibility of not teaching and painting is depressing! Do what you love! It keeps the mind and body young. I've seen people old at 60 because they have nothing to look forward to. Most of my students are over 65, male and female and are enjoying a renaissance of life!

[CTyankee]

31. me, too, altho I'm a bit younger

I work for Literacy Volunteers for only 15 hours a week so I can have time to exercise, go to lunch with friends, read and take things at a less harried pace. I did receive a good inheritance from my mother and that and a good SS amount each month is enough for me to start traveling to Europe each year. But i'm not wealthy by any stretch, just happy with what I have, an old house and an old car (paid for!). I am also not in debt. That helps.

[daleo]

35. A number of reasons present themselves.

A form of natural selection is one. 50 years ago, probably only fairly healthy people lived a long life. A high percentage of them would be able to continue working. Nowadays a much larger fraction of the population makes it into their 60's and beyond, but a lot of those are too sick or disabled to work.

The existence of the baby boom generation also makes a difference, as the majority of that cohort is still under 50, and thus is available to take up a huge number of positions in the labor force. 50 years ago, they percentage of the population in the 18-60 range was proportionately smaller than it is now, so there was more pressure on older cohorts to remain in the labor force.

Social security and public healthcare has probably played a role too. More people now can afford to retire at a reasonable age than 50 years ago. Bush and his friends are trying to take that away, though.

[anitar1]

38. Why the hell should we work till we are on our knees?

Ah--where are those golden years ? What a bunch of B.S. that is. Many of us have worked all our lives for substandard wages. So should we be loyal to our employers and keep on pushing? No.

[Up2Late]

39. So this is according to "a government report?" a 254 page report...

...that is using 6 year old data, and it's issued by this "government" that Lies about EVERYTHING!?!

And this is the most positive thing the media can find to say about this report?

Why would I believe anything these two (this "government" and the MSM) say?

Plus, this is a bogus statistic! They are comparing 1955 to today! Can anyone tell me why this is a bogus comparison?

Because of a little thing call World War 2 and the Korean War! We lost 418,500 people under the age of 35 in WW2, and we lost another 54,246 total on-duty fatalities from all causes in the Korean War. So who is going to fill those jobs?

Older workers, that's who.

Plus, we had half as many americans then, which further distorts this bogus stat.

This report is just as bogus as everything else this administration does.

[wickerwoman]

40. I'll bet a lot of people today are permenantly disabled earlier in life.

My dad had to retire three or four years early because of severe complications from diabetes (related to Agent Orange exposure while he was in the service.) He simply couldn't keep working- couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't even sit upright for months on end he was in so much pain.

I doubt that he's an isolated incident. The statistic to look at isn't how many people can retire when- it's the quality of life when they do retire. I think a lot of people are being forced out of jobs by retirement or by the earlier onset of serious illnesses like cancer, heart attacks, diabetes, etc. How many people have the option of working into old age even if they wanted to? And how many people have to accept a life of poverty because they are physically unable to find a job but haven't actually dropped dead yet?