Aging & Work Facts Database

This database provides you with easy-to-access facts and statistics related to aging & work. Here you will find:

• A sentence with a fact/statistic.
• The full citation so you can locate the source of the statistic (e.g., article, report, etc.).
• A short description of the study connected to the fact/statistic.
• And, in some cases, a figure representing the facts or statistics, such as a bar graph.

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 Reasons for working Two-thirds (69%) of the older workers responding to a recent Conference Board Survey who said that they plan to continue to work for at least five years reported that their fi...  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 According to a 2007 Census Bureau report, among persons aged 55-64 who were not working in 2004, 32.4% reported chronic illness or disability as the reason for not working, wh...  more According to a 2007 Census Bureau report, for nonworkers 45 years and older, health and retirement were the dominant reasons for not working. The proportion of nonworkers list...  more In a 2008 telephone interview survey, the most frequent reason given for planning to work at age 67 is the need 'to stay mentally engaged.' The next most frequent reas...  more According to a 2008 AARP survey of older workers, "between 80 and 87 percent of workers in each income group below $100,000 per year cite the need for money as a major reason...  more According to a 2008 AARP survey of older workers, "need for money as a major factor in the decision to work declines with age, as workers ages 45 to 54 (84%) are significantly...  more According to a 2008 AARP survey of older workers, "66 percent of those ages 45 to 54 mention the need for health insurance as a major reason for working, compared to only 59 p...  more According to a 2008 AARP survey of older workers, "seven out of every ten workers cite enjoyment as a major factor explaining why they work.  When asked to name the singl...  more According to a 2008 AARP survey of older workers, "more than seven in ten (71%) 45- to 74-year-old workers have been in their current job (or have been self-employed) for more...  more According to a 2008 AARP survey of older workers, "having a chance to use your skills and talents" was selected by more workers (91%) than any of the other 19 characteristics...  more According to a 2008 AARP survey of older workers, "working to pay for health care costs for self or other family member" is identified as a major reason for working by 81% of...  more According to a 2008 AARP survey of older workers, 76% of African Americans and 72% of Hispanics agreed with the statement 'the only reason I continue to work is because I...  more According to a 2008 AARP survey of older workers, "Enjoy the job,enjoy working" was named as the major reason for working by 85% of Hispanics, 71% of African Americans, and 69...  more In a 2008 AARP survey of older workers, enjoyment of working or enjoyment of the job was reported as a major reason for working by 69% of the male and 71% of female respondent...  more “Respondents [in a 2005 AARP survey] were most likely to identify the need for money (61%) as a major reason. However, the desire to stay mentally active, the desire to st...  more According to a 2005 AARP survey, “Workers ages 50-65 who plan to continue working after age 65 (76%) were significantly more likely than other respondents to identify the ne...  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 Moen and her colleagues asked 'retired' individuals who worked for pay why they did so. They found that while the need 'to keep active' was the prima...  more A 2002 AARP survey found that 91 percent of workers 45 years and older say that 'working helps keep people healthy and active.' (p.38)...  more The Employee Benefit Research Institute reports that 21 percent of workers who expect to work during 'retirement' years anticipate making this decision so that they ca...  more A majority of today’s older workers plan to work past the normative retirement age of 62-65, giving many different reasons for doing to. According to AARP, “…major facto...  more A 2005 survey conducted by Harris Interactive found that 59 percent of older workers (over 55) agreed or strongly agreed that 'A good deal of my pride comes from my work a...  more According to a 2006 survey, " women (43%) are more likely than men (30%) to work because they need the income to live on. And single (64%) and divorced (61%) employees are alm...  more According to a 2006 study, "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 fle...  more According to the "A Work-Filled Retirement" survey, "13% of American workers reported that they would be working either full time or part time for the needed income followin...  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 According to the "Attitudes of individuals 50 and older toward phased retirement" survey conducted by the AARP, "...the desire to stay mentally active (72%) and the desire to...  more "Forty-five-plus workers want to continue working and to have viable work options later in life; indeed, 84 percent say they would work even if they were financially set for l...  more When asked why they expect to work in retirement, surveyed workers overwhelmingly cited non-financial reasons, such as the desire to stay mentally active (87%), the desir...  more When asked to choose "one major factor in the decision to work in retirement," surveyed workers cited the need for money (22%), the need for health benefits (17%), and nonfina...  more In a 2008 AARP survey of older adults, 75% of women and 78% of men considered "need the money" as a major reason for working.  The need to maintain health insurance cover...  more      back to top For a print-ready file of all statistics for this topic, click here. 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): "Unemployment" (June 2008) "Employer-Provided Health Insurance" (June 2008) "Injury & Productivity in the Multigenerational Workplace" (April 2008) "Health & Productivity in the Multigenerational Workplace" (April 2008) "Flex Options: Flexible Schedules" (March 2008) "Flex Options: Self-Employment & Consulting" (March 2008) "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