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 Flexible Work Options: Leaves of Absence Flexible Work Options: Part-time Employment Among employess currently in the workforce, "85% of men and 65% of women usually work 35 or more hours a week for 50 or more weeks per year...About three-quarters also say tha...  more According to the 2005 Current Population Study data, 5,365 thousand Americans age 55 or older worked part time, with an additional 180 thousand seeking part-time employment. 8...  more According to the “A Work-Filled Retirement” survey, 21% of workers ages 55 and older planned to work part-time for interest or enjoyment, compared to 4% who planned to wor...  more Using Health and Retirement (HRS) data from 1992 to 2004, Cahill, Giandrea, and Quinn found that 18 percent of men and 31 percent of women had worked since age 50, but not on...  more "According the National Study of the Changing Workforce (Bond et al, 2002), approximately 50% of workers 65+ had the option to work part year, however only 20% of workers 55-6...  more According to a 2007 national survey,17.1% of the employers reported offering health insurance to families of part-time employees. (p. 12)...  more The possibility to structure jobs as a job share with another person is offered to "most/all" full-time employees at 15% of the organzations participating in a 2007 national s...  more Among employers participating in a 2007 national study, 16.9% report that "most/all" employees have the option of reducing their work hours and working on a part-time basis wh...  more A 2007 analysis of Census Bureau data shows that "among workers not eligible for [health insurance] benefits, 56.8 percent were employed part time, 18.3 percent had not comple...  more According to an AARP survey, "35% of workers 60 years of age or older reported working part-time, while significantly fewer younger workers reported similar arrangements (18%...  more According to a 2007 AARP survey, "35% of workers 60 years of age or older reported working part-time, while significantly fewer younger workers reported similar arrangements (...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that “only 33 percent of companies offer full or pro-rated benefits to part-time...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that in 2005, 38% of employers provided health insurance benefits to part-time empl...  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 Among exempt (salaried) employees who indicated an interest in reducing their hours and working part-time, more wanted to work either as contractors or consultants (even if th...  more A recent Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) survey found that 25 percent of the employers who participated indicated they offer employees options for reduced hours....  more "While 28% of respondents age 55-59 listed themselves as "self-employed or business owner," more than one-third (36%) of 60-65 year olds and 42% of 66-70 year-olds work for th...  more "Of those still in the workplace, about 76% of 55-59 year olds work more than 35 hours a week, and only 39% of 66-70 year olds work that much. In fact, among the oldest worker...  more According to the "A Work-Filled Retirement survey, "nearly 7 in 10 workers expect to continue to work full time or part time following retirement from their main job, includ...  more According to the "A Work-Filled Retirement" survey, "the youngest and oldest worker cohorts--those under 35 and those 55 and older--are more likely than middle-aged workers to...  more In 2005, individuals aged 45-54 worked an average of 41.7 hours per week. In 2005, individuals aged 55-64 worked an average of 40.5 hours per week. In 2005, individuals aged 6...  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 The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that 46% of employers allow some employees to share jobs in comparison to 13% of em...  more In a 2006 survey of more than 3,000 US retirees and preretirees, "more than 30 percent of the preretirees plan to do part-time work after their formal retirement, yet only 10...  more      back to top For a print-ready file of all statistics for this topic, click here. 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