Workforce Development in the United States: Facilitating Opportunities to Work at Older Ages

Abstract

The aging of the U.S. baby boomer cohort, born between 1946 and 1964, has had a dramatic impact on the aging of the labor force. Of the projected labor force in 2022, workers age 55 and above will comprise 25.6%, a considerable increase compared to the 11.8% they represented in 1992. Over the past several decades, labor force participation rates (LFPRs) have increased for both the 55–64 and 65–74 age groups. Increases in the female LFPRs have been especially dramatic, projected to increase from 46.5% in 1992 to 64.3% in 2022 for the 55–64 age group and from 12.5% to 28.3% for women age 65–74 ( Toossi, 2013 ). These are by far the highest LFPRs of older women since 1947, when the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) began tracking such data. Shifts in the age structure of the U.S. labor force, combined with the increased LFPRs among older adults, require policies and programs that encourage and support employment at older ages. An increasingly international, technological, and knowledge-based economy mandates continuous learning over the life course to effectively compete in the global economy ( Keeley, 2007 ). Older workers are less likely than younger workers to participate in employer-sponsored training programs ( Eyster, Johnson, & Toder, 2008 ), but the potential benefits for them may be greater since they face multiple workforce challenges including ageism and obsolete job skills. Unemployment and displacement rates of older workers in the lowest income quintile have consistently been 3–4 times greater than the rates for all workers age 55+ ( Sum, Khatiwada, & Trubsky, 2011 ). Older job seekers have disproportionately higher rates of long-term unemployment (>27 weeks), which in turn reduces likelihood of re-employment ( Rix, 2015 ).