Older Workers Accounted for All Net Employment Growth in Past 20 Years

[Klaralven]

Total U.S. employment grew by 11,767,000, or 8.5%, in the 20 years ending in December 2020.1 All that growth—11,879,000, or 101% of the total—was due to increased employment of people age 60 and older. Meanwhile, the net employment change over the past two decades of people ages 16-59 was -112,000 (-1% of the total change), despite this younger group being 3.8 times as large as the older group in December 2000 and still 2.4 times as large in December 2020. (See the figure below.)

https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2021/february/older-workers-accounted-all-net-employment-growth

?la=en

[spooky3]

1. People used to retire in their early 60s. Many can't afford

To retire that early now.

[frazzled]

3. In addition to that

The extreme advances in medicine in the past 2 decades has meant that people are living much, much longer. Not only do they not envision the stagnation of living in retirement for possibly 30 or more years, they also don’t know that their retirement funds would be able to sustain their lives for that long. Remember, very few people enjoy pensions with defined benefits anymore. It’s Social Security plus whatever you have been able to save ... which could easily run out if you live to 95. It’s become a necessity to work longer.

Also, many of us over sixty are still paying off our children’s expensive college educations. Much is made of loans that students have incurred in the era of wildly increasing education costs, but little attention is given to the many parents who incurred debt to meet those tuition costs on behalf of their children.

[karynnj]

2. Ignored is the fact that many people would be first in one line then the other

they are not two disjoint groups. I think part of the pattern happens because starting in 2007 the people who moved between the young to the old line would be those who turned 60 that year. They would have been born in 1957.

What you are seeing is the baby boom! The baby boom has been a demographic surge whatever age we were.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. Huh. I could swear it was impossible for an older worker

to ever get a job.

Guess that's another myth.

[Blue_true]

5. The report didn't mention the quality of the job (pay, benefits, ect).

An older worker that reaches retirement age may be in a position to take a job that pays a lot less than a 40 year old would.

So that has to be factored in. Older people could be taking essentially part-time work.

[GoCubsGo]

6. Speaking from experience, it's no myth.

Unless you're looking for a job as a Walmart greeter.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. Speaking from my experience, I can assure you

there are plenty of jobs other than Walmart greeter that an older worker can get.

Personally, I'm of the "a job is a job" mindset. Especially if continuing to work a few more years will get rid of years of zero income which matters a lot when you start taking Social Security.