Posted on 02/12/2014 9:08:22 PM PST by smokingfrog
When Robin McLane’s generation hit public schools in the 1950s, there were never enough classrooms or teachers to accommodate the bulge, she said. So she’s not surprised about the latest shock that boomers are delivering to the U.S. economy.
“People all around me, relatives and friends, are either retiring, or they’re finding it’s very difficult to find work anywhere from 55 on,” said the 65-year-old, who lives in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and retired from her job as a high school literacy specialist in June. “For me, I was ready to move on.”
The share of Americans in the labor force, known as the participation rate, is hovering around an almost four-decade low as the population ages and discouraged job seekers give up looking for work. Federal Reserve research shows retirees are at the forefront of the recent exodus, which blunts the impact of policy aimed at boosting the economy and workforce.
In the two years ended 2013, 80 percent of the decrease in labor force participation was due to retirement, according to calculations by Shigeru Fujita, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. And while the number of discouraged workers rose sharply during and after the recession, the group’s ranks have been roughly unchanged since 2011.
That tilts the debate on whether the participation rate can fully rebound alongside the improving economy, as retired workers are unlikely to re-enter the workforce, said Michelle Girard, chief U.S. economist at RBS Securities Inc., in Stamford, Connecticut. A tighter supply of workers means wage pressures would build faster than otherwise, something Fed Chairman Janet Yellen may watch as a leading indicator of inflation, Girard said.
(Excerpt) Read more at insurancejournal.com ...
I retired early on my own terms, last Fall, at age 52 after over 30 years in Hi-Tech Engineering.
I’ve saved & invested enough to earn it.
Everything is paid off; I owe no one even a Penny.
Part of it too is I’m sick & tired of so much of my earnings are going to excessive taxes.
My little part of “Starving the Beast”...
“I did not plan on retiring. The economy did that for me.”
They really should change the wording from people “retiring” to people “being retired”; it certainly would be more accurate. The fact is that people in your demographic often had slaries and benefits that companies wanted eliminated, and you were probably a casualty of that process. They’re continuing to move down the age/wage ladder to end up at a level where a young person can pay a share of rent and buy basic necessities; families and homes and no longer in the cards for younger American workers (in most cases).
There’s still a few “employed” demodummies that need to be in that line. (They live in the White House)
The real questions are
1. Are these workers being involuntary released.
2. Are they being replaced?
If they are being replaced, it may open up some opportunities for younger workers. If they are not, as I expect it to be, they are going to result in a higher demand for benefits with a lower number of people paying in.
Thanks to Obamas economy this boomer and her husband will be working for the foreseeable future.....
I think there are a lot of people working off the radar these days.
Illegal aliens.
“I think there are a lot of people working off the radar these days.”
Me too. I haven’t heard a word about the underground economy in years. Someone somewhere must be tracking it. I’d bet that it is huge.
I am sure it can by race, sex, ethnicity, etc. The data exist.
Although not a mistake, assuming retired boomers are not in some manner employed or working is an error.
Some certainly are not, but there are others that find they must be doing something besides what they did for years and years.
IMO most Americans have not saved for their retirement. They will have to work to survive. About one-third of Americans over 65 depend on SS as their sole source of income.
Obamacare is just one other way they can track people that are not paying taxes.
Your logic is sound, but I think a lot of people are dropping out of the work force long before they reach the age of 65.
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