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 Age Distribution of Population; also, Life Expectancy Business Strategies & Workforce Development Caregiving: Elder Caregiving: Employer-sponsored benefits for Caregiving: Other (grandchildren, spouse, dependents) 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 In 2001, 28.8% of male and 23.5% of female full-time wage and salary workers age 55 and above reported that they had flexible schedules at their primary jobs....  more In a 2004 survey on phased retirement preferences, older workers said they hoped to work part-time (63 percent) or more flexible hours (48 percent).  Sixty-three percent...  more "Workers in the 55-64 year-old age group use options such as flexible work hours less than employees in other age groups." For example, only 11.2% of workers aged 55-64 use fl...  more "According to data from the National Study of Employers conducted by the Families and Work Institute, 68 percent of U.S. workplaces allow some of their employees to periodical...  more "...the National Study of Employers found that 53 percent of all organizations report that they allow some employees to move from full- to part-time and back again while remai...  more "Information gathered by the Families and Work Institute indicates that workers in the 55-64 age bracket are less likely than those 65 years and over to feel that part-time an...  more Among employers participating in a 2007 national study, 41.4% report that "most/all" full-time employees have the option of requesting changes in starting and quitting times f...  more Among employers participating in a 2007 national study, 39.6% reported that "most/all" of their full-time employees have the option of choosing a schedule that varies from the...  more According to a 2007 national study of employers, 25.5% of the respondants indicated that most/all of their full-time employees have input into the decisions about the amount o...  more According to a 2007 national study of employers, 23.8% of the respondents indicated that most/all of their full-time employees have the option to make choices about the shifts...  more In a 2007 survey of employees, 76% of Mature workers said "Freedom to set own hours if the work gets done" is appealing, compared to 74% of Baby Boomers, 73% of Generation X w...  more In a 2007 survey of employees, 44% of Mature workers said a "Four-day work week with 10-hour days" is appealing, compared with 58% of Baby Boomers, 52% of Generation X workers...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that 38% of employers allow some employees to work part year on an annual basis in...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that 73% of employers allow some employees to take extended career breaks for care...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that 53% of employers allow some employees to move from full-time to part-time and...  more According to the Current Population Survey conducted by Census Bureau, in 2001, 30.3% of full time wage and salaried workers aged 25 to 34 used flexible schedules for the...  more According to the 2001 Current Population Survey conducted by Census Bureau, the use of flexible schedules varies by gender, with higher percentages of men reporting use than w...  more The Conference Board reports that nearly half of the respondents to its recent survey stated that "more flexibility in working hours would prevent them from retiring." (p.22)....  more Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 40% of the HR professionals responding to its recent Future of the U.S. Labor Pool Survey states that their companies o...  more The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory has reported that "70 % of flexible-hours employees are retirees." (p.1) ...  more The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2001 that only 26.4 percent of workers between the ages of 55-64 years had access to flexible schedules....  more "55-59 year-old employees are more likely to want access to financial planning resources; those between the ages of 60-65 are more interested in flexible schedules and job des...  more According to the 2003 SHRM Older Workers Survey, organizations are preparing for the possibility of a shortage of workers due to the retiring baby boom generation by: increase...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that 68% of employers allow some employees to periodically change the starting and...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that 39% of employers allow some employees to have control/choice over which shifts...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that 28% of employers allow some employees to have control over paid and unpaid ove...  more According to a 2006 survey of employers, the most frequently used strategies to retain older workers are alternative work schedules (48%) and consulting assignments (42%). (p....  more      back to top For a print-ready file of all statistics for this topic, click here. 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 Language and Immigration 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 (includes Absenteeism) Pensions and Retirement Accounts Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration 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