Ergonomics and Aging - Fundamentals and Assessment Tools for Occupational Ergonomics - page 402

TABLE 17.1 Selected Percentages of Workers Aged 55 and Older in an Occupation
Occupational Group 2000 (percent) 2008 (projected percent)

Executive, administration, and
managerial

21.35 29.30

Professional specialty 15.16 20.65

Sales 21.75 28.65

Service 15.01 16.48

Precision production, craft, and
repair

11.80 13.33

Operators, fabricators, laborers 11.93 13.36

Farming, forestry, and fishing 27.00 30.30

Source: U.S. General Accounting Office. Older Workers, GAO-02-85-95-152. Washington, D.C.
GAO 2001. With permission.

The U.S. older adult workforce is also racially and ethnically diverse. About the same percentage of
Caucasians (14.1%), African Americans (12.4%), Hispanics (13.6%), and Asians (12.5%) continue to
work after age 65 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004).
Older adults are employed in a wide variety of positions including executive, professional, sales, and
service (Table 17.1), but they are more likely to be white-collar managers or professionals (U.S. General
Accounting Office, 2001). Also, the proportion of older adults in certain occupations such as teaching
and nursing is expected to grow in the future (U.S. General Accounting Office, 2001). Moreover,
certain workers, such as farmers, are particularly more likely to remain in the workforce after the
minimum retirement age (Table 17.1). One survey found that farmers were twice as likely to continue
working past the age of 65 compared to their peers in other occupations (Sofranko, 2000). Hence,
although older adults are employed in a wide variety of occupations, the proportion of older adults in
any particular occupation may vary.
Economic, societal, cultural, and social factors have contributed to the growth of the older adult workforce.
The decision to delay retirement is strongly based on financial need (68%) and the desire to build up income
(64%) (Parkinson, 2002). Certain individuals are more likely to delay retirement based on their financial
need, such as those who have low-paying jobs that do not offer sufficient pensions, divorced or widowed
women who depend on their husband's pensions, and people who have dependent children, spouses, and

/
or parents (Szinov´cz et al., 1992). Another financial factor that has grown in importance in the last two
decades is healthcare cost. Rising healthcare costs along with increased life expectancy and an age-related
increase in healthcare needs has made healthcare coverage especially important for older adults. In fact,
many American workers may delay retirement to retain their health insurance coverage (Gruber et al., 1995).
Some older adults may delay retirement to retain the salary increase they have attained from reaching a
level of tenure. Not surprisingly, median years of tenure tend to increase with age, such that workers aged
55 to 64 have more than three times the median tenure of workers aged 25 to 34 (Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 2002). In 2002, older adult workers aged 55 and above had been at their job for more than
9 years. In these situations, individuals may be more inclined to delay their retirement to benefit from
the economic rewards of tenure.
Societal trends and laws concerning aging and retirement also influence the likelihood that an older
adult will remain in the workforce. Norms regarding retirement vary from country to country,
with American, Japanese, and Scandinavian workers leaving the workforce later than most other indus-
trialized countries (Burtless and Quinn, 2000). In spite of such variation, there is a strong relationship
across countries between the incentives for continued work provided by social security and labor par-
ticipation of older adults. That is, individuals are less likely to retire when additional work results in
larger increases in “social security wealth” (Gruber et al., 1995). In the U.S., the Social Security Act
mandates that 67 is the minimum age for the receipt of full benefits. It is likely that the Social Security
Act along with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which eliminated a mandatory retirement