By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
New data show older folks are working longer, squeezing some young people out of the workforce. From Pew:
When it comes to work, the recession is having a very different impact by age, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center's Social and Demographic Trends project. The downturn is keeping older adults in the workforce longer and younger adults out of the workforce longer. Both of these trends pre-date the current downturn, both have been intensified by it, and both appear poised to outlast it. They are a result of a mixture of demographic, economic and attitudinal changes.
The social and attitudinal changes include a realization on the part of older Americans that many were retiring too early. In the early 1960s, the average age of retirement was 66 and it has fallen continuously over the decades since to a current average of 62. But what some boomers are finding as they start to retire is that early retirement can cause depression, loneliness and a feeling of not being part of the real world anymore.
So many are remaining in the work force, at least part time, which also affords them a more affluent retirement. Go, boomers! I've always thought, you retire and you die. It's not true for everyone. But the fact is, work is often not for money alone.
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Reader Comments Read all comments (8)
bob of TX 10:51PM September 06, 2009
Rita of WA 9:33PM September 05, 2009
Don D. Brock of AZ 3:19PM September 03, 2009