Econ Quiz: The Great Retirement

(Image Source: Aaron BurdenUnsplash)

December 2021


Americans are leaving their jobs at record rates in what some are calling the Great Resignation. While younger workers may be resigning one job for another, older workers are ending their careers altogether at much higher rates than in previous years. For these workers, the trend in leaving the workforce is more accurately called the Great Retirement.

Baby Boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, stayed in the workforce longer than previous generations. As recently as 2018, 29% of Boomers age 65 to 72 were working or looking for work. In comparison, only 21% of Silent Generation and 19% of Greatest Generation members were in the workforce when they were the same age. The increased rates of workforce participation between the generations have been partially attributed to higher levels of education and increased good health into our early senior years.

As with many things, the pandemic may be slowly reversing the trend of working past age 65. According to the Pew Research Center, the U.S. was gaining roughly 1 million retirees per year between 2008 and 2019. That number spiked rapidly, with 3.5 million joining the ranks of the retired between third quarter 2019 and third quarter 2021. As of the third quarter of this year, 50.3% of all U.S. residents age 55 and older are retired, with rates ranging from 17.1% of those age 55 to 64, to 86.7% of those 75 years and older.

What percentage of Baby Boomers age 65 to 72 were retired in the third quarter of 2021?

A. 29.2%

B. 47.1%

C. 66.9%

D. 70.0%

 

ANSWER

Answer C. Between the third quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2021, the proportion of Baby Boomers aged 65-72 who were retired surged by nearly 3%, and increased from 64% to 66.9%.

Sources:

Fry, Richard. (2019). Baby Boomers are staying in the labor force at rates not seen in generations for people their age. Pew Research Center. 

Fry, Richard. (2021). Amid the pandemic,  a rising share of older U.S. adults are now retired. 


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