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 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 According to a 2007 GAO analysis of BLS and CPS data, "while the share of large employers offering health benefits remained fairly constant between 2001 and 2006 at about 98 p...  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 2007 analysis of Census Bureau data shows that "with respect to age, among workers not covered by their own employer's health plan, older workers were more likely than y...  more A 2007 analysis of Census Bureau data shows "a strong correlation between age and health benefits. Younger workers are typically less likely than older workers to work for an...  more A 2007 analysis of Census Bureau data shows that "slightly more than 62 percent of workers who declined coverage had other coverage, and 23 percent declined it because it was...  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 A 2007 analysis of Census Bureau data shows that "in 2005, 50.1 percent of workers worked for an employer that did not offer health benefits to any workers. Nearly 18 percent...  more A 2007 analysis of Census Bureau data shows that "the share of workers who take health benefits when they are offered (the take-up rate) was 83.5 percent in 2005, down from 87...  more A 2007 analysis of Census Bureau data shows that "the share of workers with health benefits from their own employer (the participation rate) has ranged from about 62-68 percen...  more A 2007 analysis of Census Bureau data shows that "in 2005, 74 percent of workers were eligible for health benefits from their own employer (the eligibility rate). Since the la...  more A 2007 analysis of Census Bureau data shows that "the share of individuals working for an employer that sponsors a health plan (the sponsor rate) has hovered between 81-84 per...  more A 2007 analysis of Census Bureau data shows that "in 2005, 63.1 percent of workers [under the age of 65] were covered by an employment-based health plan from their own employe...  more According to a 2007 study of employee benefits trends, only 10% of employees say they are very familiar with consumer-driven health plans* (CHDPs) but 70% of all employees say...  more According to a 2007 study of employee benefits trends, 74% of employers are not very familiar with consumer-driven health plans* (CDHPs). Companies with fewer than 50 employee...  more According to a 2007 study of employee benefits trends, 40% of companies offered medical, life, and/or dental insurance to retired employees in 2006, compared to 33% in 2005 an...  more Analysis of Census Bureau data shows that "in 2005, 50.1 percent of workers worked for an employer that did not offer health benefits to any workers. Nearly 18 percent worked...  more In a 2006 analysis of data from the Health and Retirement Survey, adults 51-61 years of age "who were uninsured at baseline had a 35 percent higher mortality rate (adjusted fo...  more An analysis of data from the 2004 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey showed that "for retirees age 65 and over, from 1998 to 2002, among firms with less than 50 employees, the a...  more According to a 2008 report on employer benefits, "in 2006, 13% of employers offered a consumer-driven health (CDH) plan; in 2007, that number rose to 23%; in 2008,...27% of em...  more According to a 2007 Census Bureau report on health insurance coverage, 14.2% of the population aged 45-64 and 1.5% of those 65 and older were uninsured in 2006. Among younger...  more In a 2008 survey of 500 employers, the following changes have been adopted for 2007 or 2008 for benefit cost management for their retiree health programs: changing the employe...  more In a 2008 survey of 500 employers, in regard to retiree health benefits, "47% of survey respondents still provide some level of subsidy. Among employers providing a subsidy, m...  more In a 2008 survey of 500 employers, respondents indicated that their retirees under age 65 will contribute approximately 50% of the premium for retiree-only health coverage and...  more In a 2008 survey of 500 employers, account-based health plans (ABHPs) were offered by approximately half (46%) of survey respondents had in 2007. A further 7% plan to implemen...  more In a 2008 survey of 500 employers, only 29% of the survey respondents say their organization plays a large/primary role in meeting postretirement health care needs for current...  more According to a 2007 survey of approximately 2000 employers, sixty percent of employers offer health benefits in 2007, similar to the 61% offer rate reported in 2006 but lower...  more A 2007 survey of approximately 2000 employers found that among firms offering health benefits, 3% offer a high-deductible health plan with a health-reimbursement arrangement (...  more A 2007 survey of approximately 2000 employers found that ten percent of firms offering health benefits offer a high-deductible health plan with a savings option (HDHP/SO) in 2...  more A 2007 survey of approximately 2000 employers found that nineteen percent of employers offering health benefits reported that they offer long-term care insurance, with no sign...  more A 2007 survey of approximately 2000 employers found that 22% of firms that offer health benefits offer a flexible spending account. Large firms (200 or more workers) are more...  more A 2007 survey of approximately 2000 employers found that "sixty-one percent of firms that offer health benefits allow employees to use pre-tax dollars to pay for health insura...  more A 2007 survey of approximately 2000 employers found that "the percentage of large firms (200 or more workers) offering retiree health benefits in 2007 is 33%, similar to the 2...  more According to analysis of data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ),  "only 13 percent of private sector establishments offered health benefits to ea...  more According to a 2006 EBRI analysis, for retirees who have access to retiree health benefits from a former employer but pay the full premium, "A 65-year-old retiring in 2006 who...  more According to the 2007 EBRI Retirement Confidence Survey, "even though many employers are eliminating health care coverage for future retirees, 4 in 10 workers continue to expe...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that in 2005, 98% of employers provided health insurance coverage for full-time emp...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that in 2005, 94% of employers provided health insurance coverage for family member...  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 in 2005, 21% of employers provided health insurance coverage for unmarried par...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that “in 2005, employers are less likely (7%) to pay the entire premium for famil...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that in 2005, 64% of companies offered temporary disability insurance. (Table 18, p...  more "Only 80 percent of the women compared with 91 percent of the men have access to health insurance through their employer. However,...the difference in the percentages of older...  more Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine the experiences of retirees who were aged 51 to 61 in 1992 and therefore who were 61 to 71 in 2002, Cahill and...  more According to 2002 AARP report, among the bottom 25% of income earners, 31.2% of persons aged 50-61 and  23.4% of persons aged 62-64 were without health insurance.  A...  more The percentage of uninsured poor persons age 50 to 64 decreased by 0.6% from 71.49% in 1988 to 71.08% in 2000.The percentage of uninsured poor males age 50 to 64 increased by...  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 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 persons age 50 to 64 increased by 31.7% from 10.61% in 1988 to 13.98% in 2000. The percentage of uninsured males age 50 to 64 increased by 30.8%...  more The Employee Benefits Research Institute has reported that 43 percent of workers who plan to work in retirement say they will do that in order to keep health insurance or othe...  more According to a 2002 Watson Wyatt report "...for future retirees, employers on average will contribute slightly more than 40 percent of premium with 10 years of service at reti...  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 “among companies offering family health insurance, 37 percent increased empl...  more According to the 2005 National Health Interview Survey, among persons ages 18-44, 67% are covered by private health insurance and 24% are uninsured; 10% have Medicaid or other...  more A study evaluating the relationship between health, work environment, and retirement-related job lock finds that "over half of all respondents over the age of 55 [who experien...  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 According to a 2007 national survey, more than 20% of the employers reported that health-related benefits are available to "all" employees, including individual health insuran...  more In the 2007 National Study of Business Strategy and Workforce Development, "only 36.7% of employers reported that their organizations had assessed the variance in health care...  more Costs for the five most expensive mandates are shown to raise the health care costs of workers under 35 years of age.*  "For every percentage point increase in health car...  more A 2007 analysis of MedStat insurance data from 100 companies shows that "the costs of claims* increase with the age of the insured.  The average costs of claims rise ever...  more "According to data available from Blue Cross/Blue Sheild (BC/BS), as a person grows older, it cost more for him/her to buy a BC/BS plan outside of employment."...  more According to analysis of the National Study of the Changing Workforce, 89% of workers aged 50 or older who are self-employed independents have personal health insurance from a...  more “Workers 50-65 who plan to retire by age 65 (65%) were more likely than other respondents to identify the need for health benefits. In fact, the need for health benefits...  more "The proportion of employees covered by employer-sponsored medical care plans in private industry has fallen gradually over the last decade. In March 2003, 45 percent of emplo...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that “ninety-five percent of companies with 50 or more employees offer personal h...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that “…organizations offering personal health insurance, 24 percent pay all of...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that “among companies offering personal health insurance, 40 percent increased em...  more The National Study of Employers, which surveyed workplaces with 50 or more employees, found that in regards to health insurance “eighty-eight percent of companies offer fami...  more The Health Confidence Survey (HCS) found that "...60 percent of workers who expect to receive both retiree benefits and to retire before age 65 would not retire before becom...  more      back to top For a print-ready file of all statistics for this topic, click here. 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