Research Finds 55 Plus Workers Remain Unemployed Longer than Younger Workers
New research from Boston College's Sloan Center on Aging & Work and the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University shows that older job seekers often face daunting challenges in finding employment compared to younger workers.
Specifically, according to "The 'New Unemployables' -- Older Job Seekers Struggle to Find Work During the Great Recession", co-authored by Maria Heidkamp, Carl Van Horn and Nicole Corre, among job seekers unemployed during the recent recession, adults aged 55+ are finding it increasingly difficult to land a job and are more likely to remain out of work longer than younger job seekers. Read the full report here.
Source: Aging Workforce News (www.agingworkforcenews.com)
"New Normal" for Retirement: Get a Job
Middle-class Americans need more help than they realize in planning for retirement, according to the results of a survey from Wells Fargo & Co. The study, which surveyed nearly 1,800 households with annual income of between $25,000 and $100,000, found that three-quarters of respondents are expecting to work during retirement, and two-thirds of respondents admitted to having no retirement plan in place. Read more here.
Source: Workforce Management (www.workforce.com)
Retirement Attitudes - Attraction and Retention
Given the growing importance employees place on retirement security, it comes as little surprise that they are beginning to view competitive retirement and health plans as a significant differentiator when making decisions about where to work and how long to stay with their employer. In an environment in which talented employees are difficult to lure from stable jobs, the right benefit plans could give employers the competitive edge they need.
Note: "Attraction and Retention" is Part III in the Retirement Attitudes series. Parts I and II (Confidence in Retirement and Attitudes Toward Risk) are available for download along with Part III by clicking here.
Source: Towers Watson (www.towerswatson.com)
What's Happening in Pennsylvania?
Based on 2009 data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau's LEHD (Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics) Program, there are about 1.1 million workers ages 55 and over in Pennsylvania. Most of these workers are employed in the following industries:
- Health Care & Social Assistance (17%)
- Manufacturing (12%)
- Education (12%)
- Retail Trade (11%)
Combined, these 4 industry sectors employed over half of all workers ages 55+.
Workers ages 55 and over comprise about 20.5% of the entire workforce across Pennsylvania. In fact, the only industry sector with less than 10% of its workforce employed by these workers is the Accommodation & Food Services industry (9.5%). The next lowest is Construction at 16.4%.
Industry sectors with the highest proportion of their workforce ages 55+ include:
- Education (26.8%)
- Utilities (25.7%)
- Transportation & Warehousing (24.1%)
- Real Estate & Rental and Leasing (24.1%)
This means that, for example, 26.8% of the 495,000 workers in Education are in this age category.
According to the 2009 American Community Survey, there are approximately 81,000 unemployed individuals ages 55 and over. With a labor force of 1.3 million, this equates to an unemployment rate of 7.9%. This is lower than the unemployment rate of the total working population (ages 16+) at 9.6%.
