More People Aged 65-Plus Are at Work

Two decades ago, the percentage of older men and women in the labor force was negligible. Marketers could safely ignore them and target only retirees in their messages to the 65-plus age group. Not so anymore. More than one-third of men aged 65 to 69 and one-fourth of those aged 70 to 74 are still working. More than one in four women aged 65 to 69 has a job...

Labor force participation rate of people aged 65-or-older, 1998 and 2018

	2018	1998
Men
Aged 65 or older	24.0%	16.5%
Aged 65 to 69	37.6	28.0
Aged 70 to 74	23.8	16.5
Aged 75 or older	11.9	7.5
Women
Age 65 or older	15.9%	8.6%
Aged 65 to 69	28.9	17.8
Aged 70 to 74	15.8	9.3
Aged 75 or older	6.4	2.9

Between 1998 and 2018, the number of workers aged 65 or older more than doubled (up 161 percent) because of the double whammy of rising labor force participation rates and the aging of the baby-boom generation. These increases will continue, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The labor force participation rate of men aged 65 or older is projected to rise to 25.9 percent by 2026, and women's rate should climb to 18.3 percent. The number of workers aged 65 or older will expand by another 46 percent between 2018 and 2026.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey