Retirement: Workers Don’t Expect to Work Full-Time Past 62
Posted By RichC on May 19, 2024
It is time to face the inevitable that working later in life is not a reality for most people. As I commented on a Barron’s article last week, you “better have a Plan B or even a Plan C” in case there is a health concern that prevent working later in life. From personal experience, a lot of things can happen around that 60 year old mark.
A recent Liberty Street Economics blog post shared a couple interesting graphs that could get you thinking a little differently.
One of the most striking features of the labor market recovery following the pandemic recession has been the surge in quits from 2021 to mid-2023. This surge, often referred to as the Great Resignation, or the Great Reshuffle, was uncommonly large for an economic expansion. In this post, we call attention to a related labor market change that has not been previously highlighted—a persistent change in retirement expectations, with workers reporting much lower expectations of working full-time beyond ages 62 and 67. This decline is particularly notable for female workers and lower-income workers.
Average Likelihood of Working Full-Time Past 62
Source: SCE Labor Market Survey.
Notes: The vertical dashed lines indicate the start of the pandemic. Horizontal lines indicate pre- and post-pandemic means.