Men Still at Work: Professionals Over Sixty and on the Job by Elizabeth F. Fideler
Authors: Elizabeth F. Fideler
Ads: Link
particularly those seventy and older.
Figure 4.1
Labor Force Participation Rates by Age Group, January 1993–January 2013, Selected Years Only (in percentages)
Source : US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey. Adapted from Sara E. Rix, “The Employment Situation, January 2013: Jobs Added to the Economy but Unemployment for Older Workers Holds Fast,” AARP Public Policy Institute, Fact Sheet 277 (February 2013). Washington, DC. Retrieved February 28, 2013, from http://www.aarp.org/research .
There are many possible explanations for these escalating rates of labor force participation by mature workers. First and foremost, the US population is aging. According to the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, “Demographic trends predict a US population that is made up of a much greater proportion of older adults than in the population today, thanks largely to the size of the baby boom generation—those individuals born between 1946 and 1964—relative to younger cohorts. According to the 2010 US Census, 13 percent of the US population in 2010 was sixty-five or older. By 2030, the Census Bureau projects that the percentage of the population sixty-five or older will have risen to 19.3 percent—or nearly one in five individuals.” 2 And this and other demographic trends are reconfiguring the composition of the workforce.
In 2010 the labor force held 30 million workers who were fifty-five years and older (19.3 percent of the total). By 2020, the BLS foresees 41.4 million workers fifty-five and older in the labor force (25.2 percent of the total, or one in four workers). In 2011 there were nearly 7 million people sixty-five or older in the labor force; by 2050, the number is projected to be nearly three times that, or 19.6 million. In a much shorter time span (by 2022), the number of men and women in the labor force sixty-five years or older will grow by 75 percent, compared to the number of prime-age workers (ages twenty-five to fifty-four), which will grow just 2 percent. 3
The labor force is becoming more diverse, as well. The growth rate of women in the labor force, which has been “significantly higher” than that of men, is projected to slow by 2020, and the growth rates for men and women will be similar for the 2020–50 period. 4 Older men will continue to outnumber older women in the workforce, as they have historically, but the gap will be much narrower. Figure 4.2 compares labor force participation rates by age (fifty-five and older) and gender for selected years.
Figure 4.2
Labor Force Participation Rate, by Age and Gender, 1959–2011, Selected Years Only (in percentages).
Source : US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey. Adapted from Economic Policy Institute, “Labor Force Participation Rate, by Age and Gender, 1959–2011,” The State of Working America ,12th ed . (Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute, 2012). Retrieved February 11, 2013, from http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/jobs/figure5L .
Whites are the largest group in the workforce but their population growth rate is slower than other racial and ethnic groups: Asians (the fastest-growing population) are expected to more than double their portion of the labor force (adding close to 9 million) by 2050; blacks will add 6.4 million, owing to high participation rates of black women; and Hispanics will add 37.7 million (almost 80 percent of labor force growth). In this decade alone, participation of older Hispanics in the civilian labor force is projected to increase at a faster rate than any other Hispanic age group. 5
There are many and varied reasons for older workers staying on the job. When the American Psychological Association conducted a Workforce Retention Survey to find out why working Americans stay with their current employers, “work-life fit” and “enjoying what they do” topped pay and benefits across all age groups. 6 For adults age fifty-five and older, eight out of ten cited
Figure 4.1
Labor Force Participation Rates by Age Group, January 1993–January 2013, Selected Years Only (in percentages)
Source : US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey. Adapted from Sara E. Rix, “The Employment Situation, January 2013: Jobs Added to the Economy but Unemployment for Older Workers Holds Fast,” AARP Public Policy Institute, Fact Sheet 277 (February 2013). Washington, DC. Retrieved February 28, 2013, from http://www.aarp.org/research .
There are many possible explanations for these escalating rates of labor force participation by mature workers. First and foremost, the US population is aging. According to the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, “Demographic trends predict a US population that is made up of a much greater proportion of older adults than in the population today, thanks largely to the size of the baby boom generation—those individuals born between 1946 and 1964—relative to younger cohorts. According to the 2010 US Census, 13 percent of the US population in 2010 was sixty-five or older. By 2030, the Census Bureau projects that the percentage of the population sixty-five or older will have risen to 19.3 percent—or nearly one in five individuals.” 2 And this and other demographic trends are reconfiguring the composition of the workforce.
In 2010 the labor force held 30 million workers who were fifty-five years and older (19.3 percent of the total). By 2020, the BLS foresees 41.4 million workers fifty-five and older in the labor force (25.2 percent of the total, or one in four workers). In 2011 there were nearly 7 million people sixty-five or older in the labor force; by 2050, the number is projected to be nearly three times that, or 19.6 million. In a much shorter time span (by 2022), the number of men and women in the labor force sixty-five years or older will grow by 75 percent, compared to the number of prime-age workers (ages twenty-five to fifty-four), which will grow just 2 percent. 3
The labor force is becoming more diverse, as well. The growth rate of women in the labor force, which has been “significantly higher” than that of men, is projected to slow by 2020, and the growth rates for men and women will be similar for the 2020–50 period. 4 Older men will continue to outnumber older women in the workforce, as they have historically, but the gap will be much narrower. Figure 4.2 compares labor force participation rates by age (fifty-five and older) and gender for selected years.
Figure 4.2
Labor Force Participation Rate, by Age and Gender, 1959–2011, Selected Years Only (in percentages).
Source : US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey. Adapted from Economic Policy Institute, “Labor Force Participation Rate, by Age and Gender, 1959–2011,” The State of Working America ,12th ed . (Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute, 2012). Retrieved February 11, 2013, from http://www.stateofworkingamerica.org/jobs/figure5L .
Whites are the largest group in the workforce but their population growth rate is slower than other racial and ethnic groups: Asians (the fastest-growing population) are expected to more than double their portion of the labor force (adding close to 9 million) by 2050; blacks will add 6.4 million, owing to high participation rates of black women; and Hispanics will add 37.7 million (almost 80 percent of labor force growth). In this decade alone, participation of older Hispanics in the civilian labor force is projected to increase at a faster rate than any other Hispanic age group. 5
There are many and varied reasons for older workers staying on the job. When the American Psychological Association conducted a Workforce Retention Survey to find out why working Americans stay with their current employers, “work-life fit” and “enjoying what they do” topped pay and benefits across all age groups. 6 For adults age fifty-five and older, eight out of ten cited
Similar Books
