Retirement Trends and Patterns in the 1990s: The End of an Era?

Abstract

One of the most remarkable demographic changes in the United States during the past half-century has been the dramatic decline in the labor force participation rates of older men-- the well-known early retirement trend. In 1950, nearly three-quarters of all 65 year old men were in the labor force; by 1985, less than one-third were. At age 62, the rates for men were near 80 percent in both 1950 and 1960. After 1961, when men first became eligible for Social Security benefits at age 62, the age-62 participation rate began a steady decline to near 50 percent by the mid-1980s. At age 70, the rates declined from 50 percent in 1950 to only 16 percent in 1985. Similar trends are found for other ages as well (Burkhauser and Quinn 1997; table 1). But equally remarkable has been the sudden demise of these long-run trends in the mid-1980s. Male participation rates have flattened and perhaps even turned around since 1985. The era of earlier and earlier retirement seems to have come to an abrupt halt. These changes are consistent with important policy initiatives that increased the options available to older workers and altered the relative attractiveness of work and retirement, and have been assisted by the strong macroeconomic performance of the American economy. The purpose of this article is threefold: to document the dramatic change in retirement

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