Study: Older Workers Simply Want to Work

A new Pew Research Center nationwide study found a number of interesting statistics about older workers in the American workforce. Many recent reports hypothesized that workers 65 and older are working more these days due to the difficult economic times. However, this study points in a different direction.

The study reports that 54% of workers 65 years old and older work because they simply want to work. Only 17% say they work just to make money. When asked for reasons why they are still in the workforce, workers 65 and older said that they do so to feel productive (68%), live independently (59%) and stay active (57%).

While there is no doubt a percentage of older workers who are forced to have a job to support themselves and their family, that percentage might have been overestimated. As the economy eventually recovers, it’ll be interesting to see if older workers will continue work at record numbers of if we’ll see a drop off.

One side effect of all the older workers in the workplace is that it has made it more difficult for young workers to find jobs. In today’s economy, that is especially true.

Older Worker (Image: Flickr)