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 Health: Health Status Health: Workplace Injuries Income Knowledge Transfer Labor Force Participation According to data from the National Study of the Changing Workforce*, there is a relationship between employee age and years in the labor force (an average of 6.4 years in the...  more The baby boomers, those born between 1946-1964 are shown represent the largest segment (48%) of the U.S. labor force in 2000.  By 2010, the baby boomers labor force parti...  more "The Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates that greater percentages of the workforce will be comprised by workers 55 years and older over the next 15 years." (p.3)...  more "The Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates that, by 2008, over half of the U.S. workforce will be 40 years of age or older.   And, this aging trendis expected to continu...  more "According to analysis of the Health and Retirement Study, which surveyed Americans aged 51-61 in 1992, 90 percent of the men and 75 percent of the women worked for pay since...  more "The Employment Policy Foundation reports that the demand for labor in the U.S. will exceed the supply by 2006, with a projected shortage of six million qualified workers by 2...  more "According to analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is expected that in the coming decade, a greater number of healthy older adults will be able to work pas...  more The labor force participation rate of persons aged 55-64 is expected to rise from 61.9% in 2002 to 65.1% by 2012.  The 65-to- 74 age group had a participation rate of 20....  more Nationally, nearly one in four people between the ages of 65 and 74 (23.2 percent) were in the labor force (either working or looking for work) in 2006, an increase from 19.6...  more In 2000, 59.2% of adults ages 55 to 64 and 12.8% of adults ages 65 and older were in the labor force. Projections based on census data indicate that in 2050 those rates will b...  more According to a Congressional Research Service report, in 2003 the labor force participation rates for workers age 45-54, 50-54,  55-59, 60-61, 62-64 were 82.1%, 80.2%, 71...  more According to a Congressional Research Service report, "there is a rapid decline of labor force activity as workers reach their late 50s (55-59)--the approximate age when many...  more According to projections made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over the ten year period of 2002-2012, it is expected that the number of older workers aged 55-64 in the workf...  more According to a 2007 AARP report, the employment rate* in 2006 for Americans ages 50-64 is 67.8%, 22.1% for ages 65-74, and 6.3% for ages 75 and older. (p. 20) * Employment rat...  more According to a 2007 AARP report, the labor force participation rate* of Americans ages 50-64 was 70% in 2006; for ages 75-74, the rate was 22.8%, and 6.5% for ages 75 and olde...  more According to a 2007 GAO analysis of BLS and CPS data, "employer's use of contingent workers, workers that are not full-time, year-round employees, has remained constant ov...  more Based on analysis of 2003-05 CPS data, there is a "higher prevalence of underemployment* among older-aged workers in non-metropolitan areas" compared to those in metropolitan...  more Based on analysis of 2003-05 CPS data, nearly one quarter (24.1%) of labor force participants aged 20 to 29 years were underemployed [defined as either unemployed, discouraged...  more According to a 2008 analysis of Current Population Survey data, between 1994 and 2007 in the percentage of employed older workers who worked full-time has increased in all age...  more According to a 2008 analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics and Current Population Survey data, the labor force participation rates for both women and men ages 55 and older hav...  more According to a 2008 analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the labor force participation rates of older female workers in 2007 are: 77.2% for ages 45-49, 74.7% for ages...  more According to 2008 analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the number of men aged 50 and older in the workforce from 2005-2010 is 21,114,000. Of those, 4,490,000, or 21.3...  more According a 2007 analysis of Health and Retirement Survey data, among "war babies" (HRS respondents born between 1942-1947), 13% were self-employed. Of those, 59% were still o...  more According to 2006 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the labor force participation rate for men aged 25-54 was 90.6%. For men aged 55-64, the rate was 69.6%.  For...  more According to analysis of U.S. Census data by the Congressional Research Service, "in March 2007, 81% of employed men aged 62 to 64 were working full-time, compared with 77% in...  more According to analysis of U.S. Census data by the Congressional Research Service, "in March 2007, 49% of men aged 62 to 64 were employed. Of men aged 65 to 69, 33%, were emplo...  more According to an analysis of U.S. Census data by the Congressional Research Service, "In 2006, 91% of men and 76% of women aged 25 to 54 participated in the labor force. In con...  more According to a Congressional Research Service report, "between age 25 until age 54, labor force participation is fairly consistent and high with approximately 83% being active...  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 In 2005, 2.2% of the workforce aged 45-54 was retired. In 2005, 20.7% of the workforce aged 55-64 was retired. In 2005, 69.8% of the workforce aged 65-74 was retired. In 2005,...  more In 1999, 65.4% of female workers between age 50 and 64 worked full-time all year; they earned a median income of $27,040. In 1999, 29.2% of female workers age 65 and older w...  more In 2000, 17.5% of men and 9.4% of women age 65 and older participated in the labor force....  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 labor force participation rate of men age 50 and older decreased by 7.0%, from 55.2% in 1980 to 51.62% in 2000. The labor force participation rate of women age 50 and old...  more The labor force participation rate of persons age 50 and older increased by 6.9% from 1980, when it was 41.24%, to 44.06% in 2000....  more Older workers (45 years and older) comprise 38.5 percent of the U.S. labor force in 2004....  more 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 "The labor force of workers 55 and older is anticipated to grow by more than 10.2 million by 2012, the fastest growth among all age groups. Within that group, the 55-to-64 yea...  more Approximately 98% of persons age 55 and above who were not in the labor force did not want to be in the labor force in 2003....  more In 2001, 13.2% of persons age 55 to 64 and 15% of wage and salary workers age 65 and above were shift workers. All other workers had regular day-time schedules....  more In 2003, 56.6% and 10.6% of female persons age 55 to 64 and 65 and above, respectively, participated in the labor force. By 2012, these numbers are projected to be 60.6% and 1...  more In 2003, 68.7% and 18.6% of men age 55 to 64 and 65 and above, respectively, participated in the labor force. By 2012, these numbers are projected to be 69.9% and 20.8%, respe...  more In 2003, 17.8% of men and 10.2% of women age 65 and above were employed....  more 41.9% of persons age 50-61 in the bottom 25% of income earners participated in the labor force in 2000. 11.7% of persons age 62-74 in the bottom 25% of income earners partici...  more 86.3% of persons age 50-61 in the top 25% of income earners participated in the labor force in 2000. 45.3% of persons age 62-74 in the top 25% of income earners participated...  more The labor force participation rate among single women age 65 and above decreased from 19.7% in 1970 to 9.7% in 1998, but increased again to 15.2% in 2003. The labor force...  more In 2005, 10.9% of the labor force was self-employed. In 2005, 13.0% of the labor force aged 45-54 was self-employed. In 2005, 16.9% of the labor force aged 55-64 was self-empl...  more In 2005, 50.8% of the population participated in the labor force. In 2005, 81.4% of individuals aged 45-54 participated in the labor force. In 2005, 63.0% of individuals aged...  more "In 1950, 59.9 percentage points separated the labor force participation rates of men and women [aged 55 to 64] (86.9 percent and 27.0 percent, respectively). That gap narrowe...  more The median age of the labor force was 40.5 years in 1962, "the highest level attained before the Baby Boomers entered the labor force." It dropped steadily until 1980, and sin...  more "Projections indicate that by 2020, when all Baby Boomers will be 55 years or older, people in the 55 to 64 age group will represent 15.3 percent of the labor force, and those...  more "It is anticipated that, in 2012, youths will constitute 15 percent of the labor force, and prime-age workers--those between the ages of 25 and 54--will make up 66 percent of...  more "Among older workers, the Working Retired represent 16% of 60-65 year olds and 19% of 66-70 year olds. When we add this segment of workers (i.e., the Working Retired) to those...  more “NSCW found that men report that they have been in the labor force for more years (mean for men = 37.7 years; mean for women = 32.3 years). Furthermore, men have longer tenu...  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 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 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 a...  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 In 1990, 11.5% of persons age 65 and above were employed. In 2003, 13.5% of persons age 65 and above were employed....  more      back to top For a print-ready file of all statistics for this topic, click here. 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