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More Americans are working beyond the age of 65

In a quiet coffee shop in downtown Manhattan, I met a sprightly 76-year-old who was very happy to brag about his age. Americans, I’ve learnt, love to have a good old chat, and this gentleman proudly told me that he was still working.

"Retirement just doesn’t suit me," he told me with a chuckle, as he sipped his coffee before heading off to work.

His story is increasingly common across the whole of the US according to data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2022, 19.2 per cent of Americans over the age of 65 were still part of the labour force, a figure that inched up to 19.3 per cent by October 2023. To be fair, this doesn’t surprise me. My own father is 74 years old and he’s still practising law.

So what’s behind these numbers? Well, it’s complex. The labour force participation rate for Americans aged 65 and older has actually decreased by 7.8 percentage points since 1948. However, the actual number of older workers has increased from 2.9 million to 10.9 million due to population growth. So there are relatively fewer over 65s in the workforce, but more on an absolute basis.

Source: USA Facts

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