APRIL 13, 2001
EMPLOYMENT TRENDS
Why Retirement Doesn't Mean Not Working | More older Americans -- healthier and better educated than in the past -- are returning to the workforce, for a variety of reasons
| It's a lesson that generations of retired farmers have learned the hard way: La dolce vita, the good life that comes at the end of a career, can be deadly. Sleeping late instead of milking the cows, spending afternoons on the front-porch swing while both heart and stomach turn flabby, has sent many a sod buster to a premature grave.
Now comes a five-year study from researchers at Cornell University, which found that people from all walks of life have gotten the message. A surprisingly large number of retirees -- 44% -- go back to work at some point during their golden years, according to the study of 664 active and retired workers from six major Upstate New York corporations. Only a minority of those surveyed, who were age 50 to 72 when the study was launched back in 1995, reported needing the money: In fact, 9 out of 10 attributed their postretirement industriousness to a desire to keep active.
"SOMETHING DIFFERENT." "The biggest thing is wanting to be productive -- not wanting to throw in the towel," says Phyllis Moen, a Cornell professor of sociology and human development and the principal investigator in the study, funded by the National Institute on Aging. "People who are retired today are healthier, better educated, and more vigorous than ever before." One of Moen's research subjects, a retired engineer, started a new career as a hot-dog vendor at an Upstate New York ballpark. "Sometimes people want to do something different," Moen says.
So, why bother retiring if it only means finding another job? (Retiring in this study was defined as leaving a primary career in order to benefit from a retirement package or Social Security.) Gaining the flexibility to do other things was the reason 71% of the study's peppy elders gave. Reason No. 2, for 55%: They wanted to grab their employer's early-retirement package or start drawing their pension.
Other reasons for working after retirement: 73% had the free time, 68% enjoyed the social contact, and 63% wanted to supplement their pensions. But only 41% said they really needed the money. Of those still working, more than 4 in 10 said they didn't plan to completely retire in the near future. On average, the members of this group said they planned to call it quits for good at age 68.
FEWER WOMEN. When it comes to postretirement work, there's a gender gap: Men are more likely to work for pay after retirement than women (49% vs. 39%). Says Sara Rix, a senior policy adviser at the AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons): "As many women approach retirement after working for a lifetime and a second full-time job in the home, they will likely be less enthusiastic about postretirement" jobs.
Overall, the yearning to stay in the workforce after retirement may be growing, Rix says. About 12.8% of those 65 and older now work, she adds. But a survey of 2,000 baby boomers conducted for AARP in 1998 found that 80% planned to work after retirement. "Even if fewer boomers [than that] really do, there's going to be an increase in the labor-force participation for people 65 and over," Rix says.
This could be a boon for businesses that face a shrinking pool of young workers to hire, notwithstanding the recent economic slowdown. Indeed, the 77 million boomers will be followed by the Gen Xers, who number a scant 44 million. "Employers are going to have to pick from a pool of middle-aged and older workers," Rix says. "They aren't going to have much choice if they are going to expand."
INDEPENDENT TYPES. Companies may have to dream up new incentives, however, to lure back or keep the over-the-hill gang. The study shows that when retirees choose to keep working, many prefer to work for themselves. About 40% of younger working retirees (ages 54-64) are self-employed, compared to 30% of older retirees (65-76). All the working retirees, Moen found, put in about 30 hours a week for an average 43 weeks a year.
The bottom line, says Moen, is that "companies are going to have to retain the older workers that they have now." And treat them right: "What our study shows is these retirees want more flexible hours and reduced hours. People don't want to work 60 to 70 hours a week."
By Eric Wahlgren in New York
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Copyright 2001, Bloomberg L.P.
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