Older Workers: Re-imagining Retirement
By Linda Marling Church
By now we have all heard, ad nauseum, that older workers can no longer retire and have been forced back into or to stay in the workforce because they are all broke and don’t have any choice but to work. For some, that is true. For others, who have chosen to stay in or re-enter the workforce for a variety of reasons, it is not true.
In a recent study by the Pew Research Center, it was found that 54 percent of workers age 65 and older say they work because they want to, 27 percent because they want and need to, and 17 percent because they have to. Surprised? In that same study, it was found that 54 percent of workers 65 and older were “completely satisfied” with their jobs compared with 29 percent of workers ages 16 to 64. That satisfaction may come from the fact that they are working by choice, not necessity.
Myths exist in the workplace that it costs more to employ an older
worker, that they are technologically inept, and that they are less adaptable to
change—all of which have been repudiated more than once by demographic
studies. These beliefs are responsible for the term “golden handshake” or
forced retirement that many older workers have been subjected
to.
Who said that we work to 65 and then retire and start
riding around in a golf cart in Boca Raton or Apache Junction, eating dinner at
four in the afternoon and going to bed at eight? For some, this is the
second American dream. For others, it’s Hell on earth. The Pew study
found that 57 percent of retirees were very satisfied with their retirement, 27
percent were fairly satisfied, 32 percent had to retire for health or other
reasons, 9% said they were forced into retirement by their employers. The
key to satisfaction at any age is to be doing what you choose to do whether it
is to retire or to work or a combination.
People ages 55 and older currently account for 18.7 percent of the workforce, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That is the highest share held by the group since the BLS started reporting labor force data in 1948. Conversely, workers ages 16 to 24 currently account for 14.0 percent of the labor force, their lowest share since 1948. The BLS projects that 92.8 percent of the growth of the U.S. labor force from 2006 to 2016 will be workers ages 55 and older. The share of the labor force that is 55 and older will increase to 22.7 percent in 2016. At the same time, the shares of the other major age groups will decline.
Younger workers are staying out of the workplace to get a degree (73 percent of the public deem a degree the means for getting ahead.) Older workers are staying in the workplace, delaying their retirement because of the recession or by choice.
It’s a given that many older workers are choosing to stay employed. What are some reasons? To feel like a useful person, help improve society, something to do, be with other people, to live independently, stay physically and mentally active, and to learn something new, were some of the comments given to researchers who asked older workers why they were still in the workforce.
One older worker, who had been retired for five years and working on her golf handicap, took a job because she was bored with “playing” and wanted to feel productive again. She found a flexible, part-time job in a new field, far removed from the retail business she had started thirty years prior. She found that with a part-time job she could be productive and still work on her golf game.
Another, who had been given the golden handshake by his employer, started as a volunteer at a local senior citizen center, and quickly became the paid director. He particularly liked helping his peers to see their retirement in a new way by starting classes that taught them about computers, travel and volunteer opportunities.
At age 88, after twenty years on the job, beginning at an age when most people have retired, one older worker began preparing twenty-four meals every day for area seniors.
Maybe older workers today are leery of that old adage “you retire, you die.” Working, staying mentally and physically active, and involved may not make us live any longer, but they can make the remaining hours and days more fulfilling.