Aging & Work Facts Database

Now, for a limited time, the Center on Aging & Work is making this resource available publicly before granting exclusive access to Center Partners & Affiliates, and members of the Center’s research team.

Features of the Aging & Work Facts Database include:

• individual facts searchable by topic
• brief descriptions of studies connected to facts
• powerpoint-ready graphics
• full citations, for those interested in locating the statistic’s source

During this initial period of Beta-testing we welcome your feedback.

After July 1, 2008, Aging & Work Facts will be accessible only through a password protected web page, with exclusive access given to Center Partners, Employer Affiliates, and members of the Center Research Team. For more information on how to become a Partner or Employer Affiliate, please contact agework@bc.edu.

KEYWORD Search Tips:

• Enter one or more keywords in the search box below. Using “and” between keywords is not necessary. To find only facts with graphs, include the word “graph” in your search.
• If you use more than one word in the search box and no results appear, try removing one or more of the words. 
• If no results appear, you may try alternate forms of the word (for example, if "marriage" does not work you may try "marital")
• To view the facts relevant to your search, click on “more” in the first item.  Then use the “next” button to view each of the facts retrieved by your search.
• At this time, exact phrase searching is not available.

TOPIC Search Tips:

• Topics are arranged alphabetically.  Scroll down to view topics, clicking on a topic to access facts of interest.  To view a specific fact, click “more.”  Click the “next” button for additional facts on that topic.
• To view a print-ready file of all of the facts for a particular topic, scroll to the bottom of the results display.

SEARCH BY TOPIC: Age Bias and Employment Discrimination Business Strategies & Workforce Development Caregiving: Elder Caregiving: Employer-sponsored benefits for Caregiving: Other (grandchildren, spouse, dependents) Demographics: Age Distribution, Life Expectancy Education and Training Educational Attainment Employee Engagement & Job Satisfaction Employer-sponsored benefits (see also Caregiving) Employment Preferences Flexible Work Options (general) Flexible Work Options: Bridge Jobs Flexible Work Options: Consulting, Contract Work, Self-employment Flexible Work Options: Flexible Schedule Flexible Work Options: Leaves of Absence Flexible Work Options: Part-time Employment Flexible Work Options: Phased Retirement Flexible Work Options: Remote Work, Telecommuting, Telework Flexible Work Options: Work Redesign Gender Health: Health Behaviors Health: Health Care Costs Health: Health Insurance Health: Health Status Health: Workplace Injuries Income Knowledge Transfer Labor Force Participation Marital Status Medicare & Medicaid Mental Health Multi-generational Workplace Older Workers, Advantages of Older Workers, Costs of Older Workers, Job Skills and Demands Older Workers, Perceptions about Peformance, Productivity, Absenteeism Pensions and Retirement Accounts Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration In 2000, 32% of non-Hispanic / non-Latino whites, 20% of blacks, 21% of Asian Americans and 14% of Hispanics / Latinos were age 50 and above. By 2010, 37% of non-Hispanic / no...  more "Retired whites are spread fairly equally among four broad geographic regions. About 28 percent of retired white consumer units live in the South, 26 percent in the Midwest, 2...  more A majority of older Americans, 65 and over, report that they have "excellent" health, and its is widely expected that tomorrow's older Americans will be healthier in compa...  more According to U.S. population projections from the Pew Research Center, "about four out of five immigrants (81%) are ages 18-64. That share will decline slowly as the foreign-b...  more According to U.S. population projections from the Pew Research Center, "as younger immigrants age into the elderly group [aged 65 and older], they will make up a growing share...  more According to U.S. population projections from the Pew Research Center, in "the working-age population [aged 18-64], the share of foreign-born residents ... will rise to 23% in...  more According to U.S. population projections from the Pew Research Center, non-Hispanic whites will remain a majority of the elderly [over age 65], but their share will drop marke...  more A 2007 analysis of Census Bureau data shows that "Hispanics were more likely than white, black, and other races to report that they were not covered by their employer's he...  more A projected 78.5% of adults turning 65 in 2007 will be white, compared to 72.8% of those who will turn 65 in 2020 and 57.2% of those who will turn 65 in 2040. (McNamara, 2006)...  more Between 2000 and 2005, 142,000 new immigrants aged 55 and older were employed in the United States. (Table 2)...  more "Between 2000 and 2005, 4.1 million immigrant workers arrived from abroad, accounting for 86 percent of the net increase in the total number of employed persons (16 and older)...  more In 2000, 81% of the age 50 and above population were non-Hispanic / non-Latino whites. In 2003, non-Hispanic / non-Latino whites represented 79% of the age 50 and above popula...  more In 2000, 4.8% of persons age 65 and above spoke Spanish in the home....  more In 2003, 14%, 59% and 26% of Hispanic persons age 55 and above lived alone, with a spouse and with other persons, respectively. In 2003, 31%, 42% and 27% of Black persons ag...  more In 2002, 38.3% of Hispanic male workers aged 45 to 64 had pension plan coverage, compared with 52.9% of Black male workers and 55.6% of White male workers in the same age rang...  more In 1999, 8.2%, 12.3%, 19.6% and 23.5% of White, Asian American, Hispanic / Latino and Black persons age 65 and above, respectively, lived below the poverty level....  more The labor force participation rate of nonwhite persons age 50 and older increased by 10.9% from 39.70% in 1980 to 44.03% in 2000. The labor force participation rate of white...  more The percentage of uninsured nonwhite persons age 50 to 64 decreased by 0.9% from 19.93% in 1988 to 19.76% in 2000.  The percentage of uninsured white persons age 50 to 6...  more The percentage of uninsured poor white persons age 50 to 64 decreased by 3.9% from 76.33% in 1988 to 73.32% in 2000. The percentage of uninsured poor nonwhite persons age 50...  more Between 1900-02, white males, white females, black males, and black females were expected to live until age 48.23, 51.08, 32.54 and 35.04, respectively, at birth. Between 190...  more The median net worth of families, of all races and ethnicities, headed by a person age 50 and older increased by 35.9% between 1983 and 1998. The median net worth of nonwhite...  more The poverty rate for persons age 50 and older, of all races and ethnicity, decreased by 22.7% from 11.5% in 1980 to 8.9% in 2000. The poverty rate for nonwhite persons age 50...  more “Wage and salaried employees (50 years or older) are more likely to belong to racial minorities (17 percent) than self-employed independents (8 percent) and small business o...  more In 2005, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the percentages of individuals filing discrimination charges based on race, sex, and disability were 35...  more      back to top For a print-ready file of all statistics for this topic, click here. Reasons for working Recruitment , Retention, Tenure, Turnover Retirement Income & Expenditures Retirement Planning Retirement Statistics Retirement, Timing of Social Security Unemployment Voluntarism

DOWNLOAD A FACT SHEET: The following Fact Sheets contain selected facts and statistics from the database ( PDF format): "Mental Health" (Sep 2007) "Bridge Jobs" (Aug 2007) "Part-time Work" (Jul 2007) "The Multi-Generational Workplace" (Jul 2007) "Phased Retirement" (Jun 2007) "Age Bias And Employment Discrimination" (Feb 2007) "Employer Sponsored Pensions" (Feb 2007) "Age and the Labor Force" (Jan 2007) "Social Security and Older Workers" (Jan 2007) "Voluntarism Among Older Adults" (Jan 2007) "Older Workers’ Preferences for Work & Employ-ment" (Oct 2006) "Elder Caregiving" (Oct 2006)   SEARCH BY keyword: back to top