There’s also the middle-aged people who were laid off, weren’t rehired or couldn’t find another decent job, and then decided to take early Social Security at 62 as well as draw on their retirement accounts in order to survive. I’d like to know how big that number is.
I think you could make a decent estimate by looking at the number of folks going on SS at 62 by calendar year vs. the total population of that age bracket.
If your theory is correct, the percentage should show an upward jump.