Retirement and Older Americans

Publications on Retirement and Older Americans

For many of the 36 million men and women age 55-64, the decade or so preceding retirement -- the period before Medicare and Social Security generally become available -- is less the glide path toward tranquility and more a roiling journey through economic and workforce instability.

The 2009 economic downturn that pushed up unemployment rates did not spare older workers. Unemployment rates reached record highs in 2009 for men and women age 55 and older. Older African Americans, Hispanics, and adults with limited education were especially likely to find themselves unemployed. Older adults who lost their jobs spent more time out of work than their younger counterparts. There were some encouraging developments, however. Employment rates for adults age 62 and older did not fall because many older workers stayed in the labor force, and earnings for full-time workers age 65 and older grew substantially.

It’s not exactly news — to Congress, the White House, and now many outside of elite circles — that the federal budget is out of control. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid make up more than 40 percent of spending other than interest during a normal year and all are growing faster than the economy and tax revenues. Yet, Congress has kept the overall tax burden remarkably constant as a share of gross domestic product for most of the past 50 years. Together, these factors lead to sky-high deficits, an exploding national debt, and the specter of economic collapse.

Rising health care costs threaten boomers' retirement security. In 2040, half of adults age 65 and older will spend at least 19 percent of their incomes on health care, up from 10 percent in 2010, if costs grow at the intermediate rate projected by the Medicare trustees. About 7 in 10 older Americans in the bottom two-fifths of the income distribution will spend more than 20 percent of their incomes on health care in 2040. These projections underscore the importance of controlling health care costs and the need for boomers to plan for future health care spending.

The recession has increased joblessness among older Americans. These graphs and tables report unemployment rates and how they have varied by age, sex, race, and education since 2007.