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Economic Status of Senior Citizens Improves as More Keep Working

Seniors lead nation in leaving poverty, staying on job as old fashioned retirement fades away

By Tucker Sutherland, editor

Sept. 16,2005 - With National Employ Older Workers Week kicking off this Sunday, we looked at some interesting statistics on the economic status of America's senior citizens. There are still serious problems - probably none more pressing than the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs - but the statistics indicate older Americans are making progress.

Just last month there was good news about senior citizens in the U.S. Census Bureau report on income, poverty and health insurance in 2004 – the percentage of seniors living in poverty continues to decrease.

The news was much better for seniors than for the rest of America. The national poverty rate increased over 2003 and household income was unchanged.

There has been a dramatic change in the poverty status of senior citizens since 1959. Then, seniors 65 years of age and older were by far the greatest percentage living in poverty – about 35 percent. That has steadily declined to only 9.8 percent in 2004, down from 10.2 in 2003.

Why seniors are moving up is due to a number of factors but certainly a major one is that more seniors are staying in the workforce.

The chart below shows the number of people employed in the U.S. in selected years from 1990 through 2003. The numbers are in thousands and represent the non-institutionalized population. The source is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, monthly, January 2004.

What is notable in the total number employed is the increase in seniors. There were 37.7 percent more seniors working in 2003 than in 1990. On the other hand, the total workforce over age 16 increased by only 15.9 percent.

If you compare the number employed with the total population figures, the percentage of seniors employed in 2003 was only 12.8 percent, for less than all people over 16, with was 61 percent. But, the gain in the percentage employed for seniors actually increased by almost 20 percent, while this percentage for all over 16 dropped slightly.

Nearly seven in ten American workers report that they plan to continue to work full or part-time for pay following retirement from their main job, according to a new national survey of American workers released last month. Only 13 percent of employees expect to stop working entirely.

Moreover, four in ten American workers disagree that Social Security and Medicare will still be available when they retire - only 20 percent strongly believe that both programs will be a source of support when needed.

The survey and report, titled A Work-Filled Retirement: Workers’ Changing Views on Employment and Leisure, can be accessed on the Heldrich Center Web site - www.heldrich.rutgers.edu.

Following are some other interesting charts and facts about working senior citizens.

Table 1 - The median earnings of fulltime, year-round workers 16 and older, both men and women, were higher than those of their 65-and-over counterparts. But, the difference was less than many may have assumed.

Table 2 - Both men and women in the 65-to-74 age group were more likely than those in older age groups to be in the labor force, with participation rates of 25 percent for men and 15 percent for women, compared with 5 percent for men and 3 percent for women 85 and over.

Table 3 - The headline is about the large number of seniors receiving Social Security but the interesting news is that one out of three households with a householder 65 and over had earnings as a source of income. For all Americans it was four out of five of all households. But the senior number is impressive.

	Table 1 Among older full-time, year-round workers, men aged 65 to 74 had the highest median earnings in 1999.   • The median earnings of fulltime, year-round workers 16 and older for both men and women were higher than those of their 65-and-over counterparts.  • In 1999, the median earnings for full-time, year-round workers 65 and older were $31,600 for men and $22,500 for women.  • In each age group, older men who worked full-time, year-round had higher median earnings than older women. Women 65 to 74 who worked full-time, year-round earned 71 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts, compared with 79 cents for women 75 to 84 and 83 cents for women 85 and older.
	Table 2 The percentages of older men and older women in the labor force decreased steadily with age.   • Among the total population 16 and over, 71 percent of men and 58 percent of women were in the labor force. In contrast, the percentages of men and women 65 and over in the labor force were 18 percent and 10 percent, respectively.  • Both men and women in the 65-to-74 age group were more likely than those in older age groups to be in the labor force, with participation rates of 25 percent for men and 15 percent for women, compared with 5 percent for men and 3 percent for women 85 and over.
	Table 3 Ninety percent of households with a householder 65 and over received social security income.  • One out of three households with a householder 65 and over had earnings as a source of income, compared with four out of five of all households.  • Eighty-eight percent of householders 65 to 74 received social security. The proportions rose to 92 percent and 91 percent, respectively, for householders 75 to 84 and 85 and over.  • Less than 50 percent of households with a householder 65 and over received other retirement income.   In 1999, the average annual social security income received by households with householders 65 and over was $12,300. Another source of income for the older population, retirement income, averaged $17,900 per year for comparable households who received this type of income.

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