ABSTRACT
The debate over retirement age has taken place as the economy has been undergoing a profound transformation. Despite substantial employment growth in many areas of the economy, the continued loss of jobs in manufacturing industries has displaced many workers from their long-held jobs, with serious consequences to individuals, their families, and even whole communities. During the decade of the 1980s, recession and economic restructuring have served to increase interest in the labor market situation of older workers. Labor market data are sometimes difficult to interpret. Such commonly used measures as unemployment rates, duration of unemployment, and discouragement, for example, may mean something quite different for older workers than for younger ones. The unemployment rates for older workers are well below the average for all workers. However, since the national average is inflated by the markedly high jobless rates for youth, it is most appropriate to omit workers under age twenty-five from the comparison with older workers, whatever the age cutoff.
