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IWS Documented News Service

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Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach

School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies

Cornell University

16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky

New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau

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Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)

EBRI NOTES, April 2014, vol. 35, no. 4

 

LABOR-FORCE PARTICIPATION RATES OF THE POPULATION AGES 55 AND OLDER, 2013 [16 April 2014]

http://www.ebri.org/publications/notes/index.cfm?fa=notesDisp&content_id=5380

or

http://www.ebri.org/pdf/notespdf/EBRI_Notes_04_Apr-14_LbrPart.pdf

[full-text, 11 pages]

 

Press Release 16 April 2014

Work-Force Participation Remains Strong Among Older Workers, Driven by Women

http://www.ebri.org/pdf/PR1072.W-F-Prt.16Apr14.pdf

 

 

Executive Summary

 

•The labor-force participation rate for those ages 55 and older rose throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, when it began to level off but with a small increase following the 2007–2008 economic downturn.

 

•For those ages 55–64, the upward trend was driven almost exclusively by the increased labor-force participation of women, whereas the male participation rate was flat to declining. However, among those ages 65 or older, the rate increased for both males and females over that period.

 

•This upward trend in labor-force participation by older workers is likely related to workers’ current need for continued access to employment-based health insurance and for more years of earnings to accumulate savings in defined contribution (401(k)-type) plans and/or to pay down debt. Many Americans also want to work longer, especially those with more education for whom more meaningful jobs are available that can be performed into older ages.

 

•Younger workers’ labor-force participation rates increased when that of older workers declined or remained low during the late 1970s to the early 1990s. But as younger workers’ rates began to decline in the late 1990s, those for older workers continuously increased. Consequently, it appears either that older workers filled the void left by younger workers’ lower participation, or that higher older-worker participation limited the opportunities for younger workers or discouraged them from participating in the labor force.

 

 

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