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What Is the Average Retirement Age?

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  • Alicia H. Munnell

Abstract

Since working longer is the key to a secure retirement for the vast majority of older Americans, it is useful to take a look at labor force trends for those under and over age 65 for the last century. This brief proceeds in three steps. The first section describes the long-run decline in labor force participa-tion of men. The second looks at the turnaround that began in the mid-1980s. The third section discusses the trends for women, which combine their increas-ing labor force activity, on the one hand, and incen-tives to retire, on the other. The final section concludes that labor force activity of both men and women has increased significantly since the mid-1980s as many incentives now en-courage work. Several hurdles remain to continued increases, however, including the sluggish economic recovery, the move away from career employment, the availability of Social Security at 62, and employer resistance to part-time employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Alicia H. Munnell, 2011. "What Is the Average Retirement Age?," Issues in Brief ib2011-11, Center for Retirement Research, revised Aug 2011.
    • Handle: RePEc:crr:issbrf:ib2011-11
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    File URL: http://crr.bc.edu/briefs/what-is-the-average-retirement-age/
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    Cited by:

    1. Alicia H. Munnell, 2014. "The Impact of Aging Baby Boomers on Labor Force Participation," Issues in Brief ib2014-4, Center for Retirement Research.
    2. Alicia H. Munnell & Matthew S. Rutledge, 2013. "The Effects of the Great Recession on the Retirement Security of Older Workers," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 650(1), pages 124-142, November.
    3. Elizabeth Ann Whitaker & Janet L. Bokemeier, 2018. "Spousal, Family and Gender Effects on Expected Retirement Age for Married Pre-retirees," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 371-385, September.
    4. Alma Vega & Noli Brazil, 2015. "A multistate life table approach to understanding return and reentry migration between Mexico and the United States during later life," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 33(43), pages 1211-1240.

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