Older Adult Employment: 2021 Annual Report

By SeniorLiving.org

Workers over the age of 55 represent a huge and essential segment of the American economy, and their influence is growing. In fact, by 2030, one in four U.S. workers will be 55 or older.

In part because they account for such a large share of the workforce, older adults have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, and many states had a decline in the number of workers over 55 remaining in the workforce. But overall, the 55-and-older workforce is showing signs of steady recovery, which should continue into 2022. In addition, a worker shortage may create ideal conditions for seniors who lost their jobs to re-enter the labor force with higher wages.

To update an analysis we first conducted last year, we studied data from the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine where seniors are gaining (and losing) jobs, how they fared throughout the pandemic, and how this essential workforce segment will change over the next few months.

Get the report here