More boomers are staying in their jobs instead of retiring. They’re working longer hours and making more money, new Pew data finds
More boomers are staying in their jobs instead of retiring. They’re working longer hours and making more money, new Pew data finds
“There’s going to be more old people doing everything. Working, traveling, eating out. It’s an unavoidable trend.”
The graying of the American workforce continues: Baby boomers are working longer and earning more than their predecessors did in what Americans typically think of as retirement years, new research finds.
Almost 20% of Americans ages 65 and older were employed this year, according to a new report from Pew Research Center. That’s nearly double the share of those who were working 35 years ago. In total, there are around 11 million Americans 65 or older who are working today, comprising 7% of all wages and salaries paid by U.S. employers. In 1987, they made up 2%.
And not only are more Americans at or above the traditional retirement age of 65 working, but they are also earning substantially more compared with what older workers earned in the 1980s. Now, the typical older worker earns $22 per hour, compared with $13 per hour then. Their wage growth—some of which can be attributed to their working longer hours than older Americans did in the past—has outpaced that of workers ages 25 to 64 over the same time period, according to Pew’s research, which is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey and the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking.
$13 in 1990 is 35$ today with inflation. They are working more for 50% less.
105Surely they adjusted for that.
12I dk depends if there is an agenda or if the person saw data and forgot. I'm always skeptical if they don't say equalivent or with inflation. They just wrote "compared" which seems like no math was done. Pretty sure we are all earning less than our counter parts in 80's.
15I’m not even sure where they got it from because it’s not in the linked Pew article… from 4 years ago.
6
What a useless article. It doesn't even account for inflation. Is it designed to make boomers feel good about having to be a wal-mart greeter to survive?
Perhaps they are "bored" in retirement because even after a lifetime of labor there isn't enough money left to do anything but sit and watch tv?
85I've lost count of how many boomers I've heard say "I don't know what I would do with myself if I didn't have to work". Fuck that generation. They had a chance for everything and said "whatever!" And just did nothing instead.
31They're the same flavor fucked as us. I don't hate them for not knowing what to do with themselves without working. I hate the meat grinder we're in
First, their 'i love work' attitude is both taught from society (look at this article for example) and straight up cope. Not just that; their lives like our lives have been consumed by work and the business of living. I too have had precious little time and energy to spare on developing ourselves outside it.
15
It's hard to be empathetic for the Boomer generation because they've done so much damage.
78I wish people would just quit it with this ageist crap.
"We" are not fucked over by "the Boomer generation", we are fucked over by unchecked capitalists. The struggle is not a generational one but a class struggle. It's people with money stealing the value of your labor, but the Bezoses of this world sure love how you're all blaming it on old people and are laughing all the way to the bank.
Shitting on boomers because they had affordable housing and well paying jobs is crab mentality. Everyone should have that, but it's not the regular folk boomers who took that away from you. They were just lucky to be born at a time when the capitalists hadn't ruined that yet. About the only thing you can blame them for is that some of them don't quite understand how exactly the world has changed for the worse for young people, and that their back-in-the-day conventional wisdom doesn't apply anymore.
2Do they vote? Did they not participate in the creation and execution of the modern capitalist system that has ruined things? When confronted with their part in it all do they change? Does the lead in their bodies allow them to be empathetic toward younger generations? Either you are a bit older or you really love meemaw, but regardless they laid the groundwork then took no responsibility for their part in the destruction.
0
How so? They're flopping between two parties just like the current generation of voters.
Watch the reactions when I type this:
Vote third party.
-77
16
A fluff piece telling me how I should feel grateful for working till I die because it will appear that I’ll make more money?
37The fun one is where they brag that older workers are making "substantially more" because they're averaging $22/hr versus $13/hr in 1987. Adjusted for inflation, that $13/hr should be around $35/hr.
More people are working longer for less money.
16Okay thank you, I was so confused reading that. I was waiting for any mention of adjusting for inflation.
6
The interesting thing is when you think about how social security is supposed to work.
The younger generations need to work and earn a decent wage to subsidize the older generations retirement.
The longer the older generations stay in the work force, the less openings there are for the younger generations to contribute to social security.
28Kind of. But working longer also means that person costs less in social security, and the plan was designed as a pyramid scheme. But we can't grow in population forever. So if this is the glut of old people, they need to work longer. That's why one of the "fixes" to any system like that is increasing the retirement age. Also the economy isn't a zero sum problem where I can take your job, really. It's more like a living system. Jobs get created and lost, it grows from the bottom up.
2That's a good point.
Somethings I didn't realize I don't know of till now. When does one withdraw money from social security? Like do they have to request it from the government? A government worker might have a retirement age but for most Americans, it's more of a guide. I know plenty of people that are in their 70s and they never plan to retire. If they continue to get paid on w-2 and report earnings to the IRS, does that mean they are ineligible to receive social security benefits?
I suppose if they are not able to collect social security money, and they continue to pay into it but they retire later then you are 100% correct and it's not as big of a problem for the younger generations as I thought.
Although I would say that the job market is in fact a competition. No matter if you are someone with seniority and experience, someone with little experience willing to work for less, or simply an automaton.
1
I think this article is making an incorrect assumption that these older workers are sticking around in the same caliber jobs they had when they were younger. Those people simply enjoy their jobs, and can still do them, so are not ready to just stop doing it. But there are many more classes of older workers:
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the ones with the financial security to retire early, but do not want to just sit around the house all day. They may want to stay employed part-time somewhere as a social outlet.
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the ones with the financial security to retire early, except for health care. These workers might take jobs with less responsibility and pay, but make liberal use of their health insurance until they qualify for Medicare.
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the ones who don't have that financial security, so they still need to be an active part of the workforce until their Social Security payments kick in.(which still may not be enough)
So, it's not always the case that an older worker remaining in the workforce prevents another mid-life worker from advancing. However, every older worker remaining in the workforce fills someone else's position, and eventually it all trickles down to the entry level jobs. So it does end up screwing today's new grads in the end, just like their student loan debt and the sky-high housing prices do.
28My manager is a prime example of your first category. He has a nice federal retirement and a chunk of a 401k, but he stays here...riding his desk. He can't begin to fill the shoes of the Gen-X manager he replaced. Thus the quality of my department suffers because he's a weak manager and susceptible to the schmooze by younger employees.
He took over the position just after he: 1. Moved 2 hours away, and 2. Had a massive heart attack. This guy's circumstances are screaming at him to retire, but he just. Won't. Move. On.
3Those people simply enjoy their jobs
Or maybe they just can't afford to retire
2However, every older worker remaining in the workforce fills someone else's position, and eventually it all trickles down to the entry level jobs.
Assuming anyone is hiring entry-level positions.
At my company, there have been countless rounds of layoffs and early retirement packages, and nobody being hired at entry-level. The few people who have been hired have come in with a decade or more of industry specific experience, and have been expected to hit the ground running.
I don't know if all industries are following similar trends, but my kids experience trying to find "no experience needed, entry level" jobs suggests it is pretty wide spread.
Working your way up from the bottom seems to be increasingly a thing of the past.
1
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Why doesnt anyone want to work?
Says the tech illiterate boomer who is vastly underqualified and incompetent compared to the far more qualified and educated millennials who cannot find a job that he makes fun of on facebook all day at work.
23I don't get it...
1
Last week they were all quitting and retiring early.
22Sure. The lucky ones amongst those who can't afford to retire.
Then there's the unlucky ones.
20The headline makes it sound like boomers are out-earning other generations or making good money.
- The average private sector wage is $34/hr. This indicates wildly skewed upper bounds so we can’t draw any conclusions about their earning.
- The median in 2020 was $23/hr, implying boomers are earning less than other generations
- $22/hr is about $45k/yr. Generously that’s about $40k after taxes. Assuming a health plan of $600/mo (premiums are higher at higher ages) and giving a generous 50% employer payment, we’re down to about 37k. tbh I feel like healthcare costs should be doubled or tripled based on costs I’ve seen from family and friends. Rounding nicely, that’s about 2k a month. If we use the incredibly outdated figure of rent/mortgage being 30%, we have 1400 to spend or save. Let’s pretend we’re able to get all bills under 400 so we have 1000 left over to use.
- Hip replacement is conservatively 3k with insurance. That’s three months of work. You’re probably taking FMLA which means you probably need another three months to cover expenses while recovering. Use hip replacement as a stand in for other surgeries.
- Let’s pretend crowns are as cheap as 1k/tooth. You’re probably looking at one a year ish over time.
- Let’s pretend hearing aids are 2.5k and you’re lucky enough to have insurance that covers them every few years. You’re still out of pocket at least 1k, burning another month.
- Some conservative estimates for cancer are about 6k for lung, breast, and rectal after insurance (prostrate is cheaper!). That’s six months assuming no FMLA; you’re probably taking some time so that’s probably more months.
Boomers are fucked earning that. Millenials are even more fucked. Who knows how fucked GenZ is.
17Let’s pretend hearing aids are 2.5k and you’re lucky enough to have insurance that covers them every few years. You’re still out of pocket at least 1k, burning another month.
My hearing aids were $3,600 and they were the lower end of the scale. And my insurance didn't cover a single penny of it.
Boomers are fucked earning that. Millenials are even more fucked. Who knows how fucked GenZ is.
And GenX is ignored again!
Sorry. As a GenX-er, I felt compelled to point that out. Don't be surprised if future articles talk about how GenX isn't retiring, but is continuing to work, though. Personally, I'm doing fine for now, but my retirement savings are way too low. I could either save more for retirement and end up financially underwater right now, or keep my head above water and then struggle when it comes time to retire.
So I'll likely be working until I'm 80 in the hopes of stretching my meager retirement savings through the rest of my life. And that's assuming that Social Security isn't gone by then.
10Fair callout! I shouldn’t keep forgetting GenX.
In researching all the bullets I was really surprised to find that hearing aids aren’t covered. It’s something like five states have some level of requirement. As someone with hearing loss, that’s really concerning and I’m not looking forward to that.
2
And continuing their destruction of opportunity for future generations.
14If I couldn't afford to stop working, I would be forced to stay on the payroll forever, regardless of what I might prefer to be doing.
7"You should have saved more."
"You lived too extravegently"
"You should have done more politically to prevent the current economic situation from fomenting"
2 of those 3 are often used to dismiss other generations as they struggle.
3rd is just aimed at the generation that made today's reality happen.
9
And thinking that the discovery of the cognitive decline would make the policymakers rethink the role of the elder in (or rather out and properly compensated) the workforce... Such a fool I was
2
I’ve been seeing this headline for at least 10 years now
11compared with what older workers earned in the 1980s. Now, the typical older worker earns $22 per hour, compared with $13 per hour then
$13 in 01/1980 is $51 in 11/2023 based on buying power. $13 in 01/1989 is just shy of $33 now.
9Shhhhh.
Don't tell them that 3 pennies aren't actually more than two quarters because there's more of them.
Otherwise people will catch on that they are being grossly fleeced by an unfair and abhorrent system of generalized inequality.
3
Reap what you sow.
3