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 Among workers over the age of 65 responding to the National Health Interview Survey, 12% of respondents reported that they are current smokers, 21% are risky drinkers, and 75%...  more In a 2008 survey of employers, HR leaders and benefits mangers indicated that to improve the health and productivity of their workforce, for the 2008 plan year [their companie...  more In a 2008 survey of 500 employers, among "high-performing" employers [those who have been successful in keeping health care cost increases lower than 5% per year], "78% say th...  more Analysis of 2000 data from the National Center for Health Statistics indicates that obesity shows a tendency to increase with age up to about 65. In the 55-to-64 age group, mo...  more According to analysis by the Milken Institute, lower obesity could reduce cases of illness by 14.8 million in 2023, which would cut $60 billion from the national treatment bil...  more A 2004 analysis of National Health Interview Survey data indicates that the extent to which obesity contributes to disability "varies by age group, but it is clearly the domin...  more In a 2002 study of 135,000 current and retired employees of a large company, individuals with low risk factors (e.g. absence of obesity, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, high blo...  more In a 2002 study of 135,000 current and retired employees of a large company, 44% of excess health care costs for individuals less than 45 years of age were affected by the p...  more According to analysis of data from the UnumProvident Disability Database, "medical costs are reported to rise at an estimated 25% from age 40 to 50 and 35% from age 50 to 60....  more According to analysis of the UnumProvident Disability Database, "health risk factors [such as smoking, obesity, uncontrolled blood pressure, etc.], double and triple the healt...  more According to a 2007 GAO analysis of Mercer National Survey data, the proportions of employers with over 500 workers that offered various health and wellness programs in 2005 a...  more Among workers over the age of 65 responding to the National Health Interview Survey, 20.9% can be classified as "risky persons" who report that they are current smokers, curre...  more      back to top For a print-ready file of all statistics for this topic, click here. 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