"There isn't a script for 65 anymore," Jacquelyn James, research director at the Sloan Center on Aging and Work at Boston College, told "Arizona Business and Monthly" this year,"We recommend the same thing we tell people in their 20s: Go try things." As more and more of us work past retirement age trends show that we're acting on James' advice. We're writing our own scripts as we stay in the laborforce longer, build start ups, and share our values with organizations that welcome our employment.
We're contributing to the work world in increasing numbers. A Congressional Research paper from 2009 examined the significant growth in our labor participation over time. In 1990, 56% of men 65-69 were employed full time. That increased to 61% in 2000 and 69% in 2009. 44% of women 65-69 worked full time in '90 and 2000 but participation jumped in 2009 as 54% took a full time job! 65+ male workers as a whole declined between 1950 and 1985 but rose, in 2008, to roughtly 21%. Women working over the age of 65 has steadily increased over time. More than 13% worked in 2008.
What happens in the workplace and labor pool directly effects many of us so contrast our labor participation trends with the picture drawn in a July 2012 report from AARP showing the stubborn unemployment facing older workers. More of us in the workforce equals more of us experiencing unemployment as we struggle to overcome post recessionary pressure. However, only 1/4th of 65+ workers who lost a job in the recession had found a job by January 2012 while the 25-54 group had much better luck. 60% found new employment. One wonders, then, why Senate bill 2189, legislation that would strengthen laws protecting older workers from discrimination, is slow to gain traction. Introduced in March, it langours in committee now and govtrack.us, a site that tracks congressional legislation, gives it only a 1% chance of passing. In fact, a Supreme Court decision in '09 actually made it harder to prove age discrimination. Yes, as confounding as it is, the Court made it harder!
As all of us in the work force know our contributions are valuable and equivalent if not equal to those of our younger coworkers. But selling that concept to managers and reframing the traditional perceptions of older workers is slow and difficult work. It will change but it hasn't yet. When it does we may make the work place a better place to be if the research of Dr Truxillo at Oregon Health and Science University is accurate. He reviewed several studies of older workers and concluded that we:
Tend to go out of our way to be helpful to our organizations and fellow employees
Exhibit less hostility then younger counterparts
Regulate our workplace moods better
Practice better workplace safety
Exhibit punctuality
Express fewer counterproductive tendancies at work
Older workers have skills, experience, and life traits that lead organizations and businesses to greater success. We know that. Someday soon managers will embrace it too. Look out employers-- here come the Boomers!
Update Jan. 17 2013 --Good story on working past the age of 75
Update March 2015: Article from the Wall Street Journal on how to age past retirement and stay in your job.
Update November 2015: From this month's article in the New York Times called After Years Out of a Job, Older Workers Finding a Way Back In: "The recession was over, but it was still a challenge to find a decent job in a rapidly transforming economy. In what she calls her “aha!” moment, Ms. Horton decided to take her degrees off her résumé — all of them — so as not to be perceived as overqualified, and to get her “foot in the door.”"
