Desperate ‘baby boomers’ return to work
Instead of pushing older Americans like Ms Coffey out of work, the economic slump has forced more of them back into it. Since the recession started in December 2007, some 5.7m US workers have lost their jobs, pushing up the unemployment rate to 8.9 per cent, data showed on Friday. But the number of over-55s in work has risen more than 800,000.
The impending retirement of America’s 78m-strong “baby boomer” generation has caused consternation among policymakers for years. Now the “silver tsunami” may be on hold. “Older workers are actually coming into the labour force – many are finding jobs,” says Richard Johnson, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. “It is being driven by economic insecurity . . . they have become so desperate that they are returning to work.”
The collapse in share prices and property eroded the value of assets many older people thought would sustain them. Ms Coffey and her husband have two townhouses as investments, but these have dropped in value from $450,000 each to $275,000 for the pair. Their savings, which were largely in mutual funds, have halved. An extension to their kitchen sits half-finished, with walls but no appliances.
The participation of older people in the labour force has been growing as health and life expectancy improves. Before the recession, about 15 per cent of baby-boomers said they intended to work until they died. That has risen to more than 25 per cent, according to one survey.
“We did expect people would continue to work longer,” says Bob Skladany at RetirementJobs, a recruitment website. “What we did not expect was this economic crush, which has propelled retirees back to work.”
Older people face mixed fortunes in the recession-ravaged labour market. Some have skills and experience sorely in demand. An ex-nurse “could have purple hair and be 72 and still get hired”, quips Mr Skladany.
Ms Coffey has an accounting background, but has struggled to find such work because technology has moved on. “I could take a set of books from nothing . . . and bring it all the way through to financial statements, tax returns and everything else,” she says. “But tell me how to do it on the computer!”
Older people without highly valued skills are taking low-paying jobs in shops, hotels and restaurants. “I was thinking of checking out Wal-Mart,” Ms Coffey says. “I’m sure there are so many people looking for work there’s probably not going to be much of anything out there . . . I may be in for a rude awakening.”
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