The Old Are Working, but Not the Young

This summer has seen a larger share of a certain group of people working than at any time in the last three decades, according to government figures.

That group is older people.

During the summer months this year, an average of 35.9 percent of men ages 65 to 69 had jobs. Similarly, 25.6 percent of women in the same age group were working. Both figures were records for any summer since such numbers became available in 1981. The rate of employment for women 70 to 74 is also higher than in any previous summer.

All other age groups over 60 came close to setting records. The share of men 60 to 64 with jobs was 57.2 percent, and the share of women in the same age group was 47.1 percent. Both were less than a half a percentage point short of the previous summer high.

On the other end of the scale, the proportion of people under 30 with jobs, while up from the recession lows, remains far below what it was before the Great Recession.

The charts below are based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ survey of households. Because the bureau does not make seasonal adjustments based on age, the charts compare the three-month averages of this summer to previous summers: the summer of 2007, the last one before the recession began; and the summer of 2011, when the job recovery was still young and weak. They show the ratio of employment to population for each age group of men and women, regardless of whether those without jobs were seeking employment.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, via Haver Analytics

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, via Haver Analytics

As can be seen, it was young people who were least likely to get jobs during the downturn, but there were also substantial declines in the employment rate of men in the prime working years. In the summer of 2011, only 78.6 percent of men and 67.1 percent women 25 to 29 had jobs. That was the lowest figure of any summer since 1981 for men, and the lowest for women since 1986, when the proportion on women in the work force was still growing.

Since 2011, there has been growth in employment for nearly every age cohort of men, but the employment rate for women in their early 50s has continued to fall.

What appears to be happening is that many people are postponing retirement if they can, while younger people are having trouble getting jobs.

Call it the 401(k) effect: “I thought I was going to retire, before my stocks went in the mire.”