Statistics and General Information About Older Workers
From The National Council on the Aging Inc.
 There are 16 million Americans age 55 and over who are either working or seeking work.
 Older workers are getting new jobs at an annual rate of 4.1% -- more than double the 1.8% of
the general population.
 Between 2000 and 2010, the fastest-growing age group will be those between 55 and 64.
 By 2005, those 55 and over will comprise nearly 20% of the workforce.
 Today, older Americans make up 10% of the workforce but account for 22% of the nation's job
growth since 1995.
 More than 51% of older women are working, up from 43% in the last decade.
 Almost 60% of working Americans expect to work at least part-time after the age of 65.
 More than a million workers between the ages of 70 and 74 are employed, according to a recent
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report.
 A Hudson Institute study warns of a "severe" labor shortage by 2010, as baby boomers begin to
retire and there are fewer young workers because of the slow population growth of 1966-1985.
 A survey of human resource professionals found that 62% are hiring retired employees as
consultants or temps.
 Extensive research has found no relationship between age and on-the-job performance.
 A 1983 review of 185 research studies found that older workers might actually have higher
motivation and job satisfaction than their younger peers.
From the Administration on Aging: Profile of Older Americans
 Persons 65 years or older numbered 35 million in 2000. They represented 12.4% of the U.S.
population, about one in every eight Americans.
 The number of older Americans increased by 12.0% since 1990 and has more than tripled since
1900.
 In 2000 the 65-74 age group (18.4 million) was eight times larger than in 1900, but the 75-84
group (12.4 million) was 16 times larger and the 85+ group (4.2 million) was 34 times larger.
 By 2030, there will be about 70 million older persons, more than twice their number in 2000.
 People 65+ represented 12.4% of the population in the year 2000 but are expected to grow to be
20% of the population by 2030.
 In 2000, 4.2 million (12.8 %) Americans age 65 and over were in the labor force (working or
actively seeking work), including 2.4 million men (17.5%) and 1.8 million women (9.4%).
 There were 50,545 person ages 100 or more in 2000 (0.02% of the total population). This is a
35% increase from the 1990 figure of 37,306.
From an Older Workers Survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management published in
Workplace Visions/Sept-Oct. 1998
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Older workers tend to be more reliable than younger workers (33% strongly agree; 44% agree)
Older workers tend to have a higher level of commitment to the organization than younger
workers (27% strongly agree; 50% agree)