Why are older workers staying on the job?

Younger workers are facing a conundrum: Older workers aren't getting out of the way. America's aging workforce is keeping those older workers on the job longer than ever — and blocking pathways to advancement for people just starting their careers.

"The fastest-growing segment of the labor force is the 75-and-older worker," said The Christian Science Monitor. Many older Americans prefer to stay active as they get older. "This is my exercise," said Pat Callahan, a New Jersey resident in her mid-70s. But many older workers cite "not being financially secure" as a big reason they stay on the job, Vox said. A quarter of people over the age of 59 report having no retirement savings, but a third of Americans over age 65 do have mortgage payments to make. 

That has led to "career ladder gridlock," which is locking younger workers "into lower-paying, junior-level roles," Axios said. One survey shows that a third of Americans don't expect to retire until age 70 or later — which makes sense since people are generally "living longer and staying healthier as they age." But that's frustrating for the people stuck behind them. If "there's no space for you to move," said career expert Jasmine Escalera, "then your earning potential is actually stalled."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

What do the commentators say?

"The U.S. workforce is now packed with five generations," Aden Barton said in The Washington Post. That includes folks from the so-called "silent generation" born before 1945 — think Joe Biden — all the way down to Gen Z youngsters. That's an unprecedented  "demographic traffic jam" that has dimmed career prospects for younger workers. What changed? Pensions have largely disappeared; meanwhile, the age to collect full Social Security benefits rose to 67 in the 1980s. What should be done? The first move should be to "encourage more start-ups." But smart businesses will find ways to "keep older workers involved without shutting out young talent."

"Millions of people don't have enough money for a comfortable old age," Peter Coy said in The New York Times. Working longer is a "partial solution" to that challenge: Americans spent nearly 20 years in retirement in 2010, up from just 13 years in 1970. But staying on the job isn't necessarily the right answer for Americans whose jobs are "physically, mentally or emotionally taxing." The answer? It's time to shore up Social Security — and complement it with a government-sponsored "automatic-enrollment pension plan" for workers whose jobs don't provide the necessary retirement benefits. 

What next?

Middle-class households have saved a median of $66,000 for retirement, said CBS News. That's a "far cry" from the $1.5 million that a "typical worker" would need to fund a "comfortable" retirement. Work has become the default option. "Many are saving for retirement," said Catherine Collinson of the Transamerica Institute to CBS, "but the question is whether they are saving enough." 

A growing number of workers have decided not to choose between retirement and working. Instead, they're taking a third option: "Phased retirement." A third of workers 50 and older say they have started "reducing their work hours or job responsibilities" as they get older, NewsNation said. That can work out well for both older and younger employees. "Companies want to hang onto experienced employees," said one analyst, "and encourage them to pass on their wealth of knowledge to younger employees."