Older Adults in the Labor Force

Retirement was once seen as an exit from full-time work to full-time leisure. However, in today's society the older generation is delaying retirement longer than their parents or grandparents. In 2009 adults age 55 and older made up 19% of the work force. There are a couple major reasons why they are delaying retirement. First, the older generation enjoys working and wants to stay active. Some do not want to retire and want to continue with their career jobs. Some retire from their career work to find a new and different job. Some retire from career jobs to do volunteer work. Approximately 7 million Americans that retire return to work. Second, the older generation is delaying retirement because of financial reasons. Some cases adults cannot afford retirement and must continue to work in order to meet financial needs. The growth in senior adults working added 3.2 million people to the work force in 2009. Some work to meet financial needs, some work to stay busy, and others work to give back to their community. Of the senior adults that have continued to work or returned to work two thirds indicated that they were happy with their decision.

My opinion:

I think that the older generation continues to work because they have worked their entire lives. The older adults are the ones that had to start working at an early age to help support their families. They have grown up working, and have worked their entire lives. Therefore, they do not know what it is like to not work. Therefore, they feel as if they must continue to work.

Sources:

Johnson, R., & Kaminski, J. (n.d.). Older Adults’ Labor Force Participation since 1993: A Decade and a Half of Growth. Urban Institute. Retrieved July 15, 2010, from www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/412011_older_adults_labor_force.pdf

Santrock, J. W. (2008). Life-Span Development (12 ed.). New York City: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.