The Future of Aging and Longevity - Flipbook - Page 30
Working at
All Ages
Nicola Bianchi, PhD
Andrew J. Sco琀琀, PhD
Associate Professor, Kellogg
School of Management,
Northwestern University
Principal Scien琀椀st
(Economics), Ellison Ins琀椀tute
of Technology and Professor
of Economics, Oxford
University
ver the past decades, falling birth rates
and rising life expectancy have created
the need to absorb an ever-increasing
number and propor琀椀on of older workers. As a
consequence, between 2004 and 2024, the number
of older workers (over 55) in the US rose from 23
million to 39 million.23 Almost one in four workers is
now over 55, and suppor琀椀ng longer working lives is
increasingly important for maintaining GDP growth
and the sustainability of social security systems.24
But how did the US labor market manage
to accommodate this many older workers? And
who have been the winners and losers? Given the
expecta琀椀on of con琀椀nued demographic pressures,
answering these ques琀椀ons can help individuals,
corporates, and policymakers prepare for the
decade ahead.
The rise in older employment has been
supported by mul琀椀ple factors. One is rising
educa琀椀on levels: Today’s older workers are more
educated than earlier cohorts, and educa琀椀on is
strongly associated with employment at later ages.25
A second is the growth of jobs that are more suitable
for older workers: jobs that are more 昀氀exible, more
autonomous, and less physically demanding. It is
es琀椀mated that employment in these “age-friendly”
occupa琀椀ons rose by 49 million between 1990 and
2020, making it easier for older workers to remain
employed for longer.26
O
26
Technology has also helped. In manufacturing,
for example, where older workers are common,
widespread robot adop琀椀on has reduced the physical
demands of produc琀椀on work.27 More broadly,
new technologies have boosted the demand for
roles requiring open-ended judgment and decisionmaking, where older workers tend to have a
compara琀椀ve advantage.28
But not all older workers have bene昀椀ted from
these trends. For instance, construc琀椀on remains one
of the least age-friendly sectors and has seen li琀琀le
change. Similarly, rising demand for judgment-based
skills has mainly bene昀椀ted workers in professional
and managerial roles. Further, for workers who lose
their jobs in their 昀椀昀琀ies, ageism in hiring makes it
di昀케cult to return to similar roles, with signi昀椀cant
impact on their life琀椀me earnings.29 Mee琀椀ng these
challenges requires tackling ageism in recruitment,
further expanding age-friendly jobs, suppor琀椀ng
transi琀椀ons across roles later in life, and above all,
ensuring that health and skills are strong enough to
sustain longer careers.
But it is a mistake to think only of older workers
when considering how the labor market adapts to
new demographic reali琀椀es. Higher employment
amongst older workers does not mechanically
create unemployment amongst the young, but it
can impact their career paths. Simple economic
logic would predict that an increase in the supply
MIL K EN I N S T I T U T E | T H E FU T U RE O F AGI N G A N D LO N GEV I TY
