These Are the Jobs That Keep Older Americans Working
Illustration: Con McHugh for Bloomberg Businessweek
Businessweek

These Are the Jobs That Keep Older Americans Working

Occupations with the highest share of workers older than 65 have changed little, data from the past seven decades show.

Americans may dream about being able to go off the clock when they reach retirement age, but a good number simply can’t or won’t. We compiled data on the occupations with the highest share of workers older than 65, going back seven decades. The job types held remarkably steady over the decades (farmers, tailors and clergy). A few faded out of the data with time—blacksmiths, furriers and household washers, for instance. The data can’t fully tell us why people in some professions keep at it longer than others. But we know they’re largely low-paying jobs, which means workers have likely struggled to put aside money for retirement.

Occupations With the Highest Share of Workers Over 65

Data: Ipums, BLS, US Census. Occupation categories are not consistent across decades. Occupations with fewer than 1,000 reported workers have been excluded

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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