As Older Workers Resist Retirement, They Find Employers Resisting Them

The U.S. Labor Department estimates that people 55 and older continue to remain unemployed longer than their younger peers when they lose a job, while hourly pay starts to decline as they enter their 60s regardless of educational attainment, reports the Portland Press Herald . "We have this labor shortage, and we hear about the skills shortage," says the AARP's Susan Weinstock. "Older workers can fill those needs if employers will open themselves up to the idea." Theories about what drives people to work longer include better health, higher education, and a transition toward less physically demanding jobs. The incremental elimination of traditional employer pensions and a corresponding increase in 401(k) plans also are discouraging earlier retirements, while a concurrent rise in the Social Security full retirement age has induced people to stay employed longer by giving them higher monthly payments as an incentive. "Productivity is generally associated with wages; that is, the more you can produce, the more you will get paid," says the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank's Ellyn Terry. "Lower wages among older individuals may also reflect people switching to less intensive jobs." Proving ageism is difficult, especially in cases where someone is not hired for a job and age bias is the suspected reason.