Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data for 1950-83 from Handbook of Labor Statistics, 1985. Data for 1984-88 from Employment and Earnings, annual issues Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unpublished data from the 1987 Current Population Survey. JOBS ARE SHIFTING TO SERVICE AND LIGHT INDUSTRIES The U.S. economy has been shifting from agriculture and heavy industry to service industries. For example, the number of American jobs located in the goods-producing sector (agriculture, mining, construction, and manufacturing) rose slightly between 1959 and 1984, but the number of jobs in the service-producing sector nearly doubled. The proportion of all jobs in the goods-producing sector fell from 40 to 28 percent during this period, while the service-producing sector share of jobs rose from 60 to 72 percent. In 1987, service industries employed 39 percent of all workers 65 or older (table 3-6). Chart 3-6 YOUNGER AND OLDER WORKERS AS A PERCENT OF THE LABOR FORCE: 1986, 2000 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational The occupational structure of the labor force has undergone similar changes, with a decreasing emphasis on agricultural and bluecollar jobs and an increasing emphasis on white-collar and service occupations. In 1987, almost three-quarters of workers 65 and older were in managerial and professional; technical, sales, and adminis trative support; and service occupations (table 3-7 and chart 3 5). This shift from physically demanding or hazardous jobs to those in which skills or knowledge are the important requirements may in crease the potential for older workers to remain in the labor force longer. 5 Kutscher, Ronald E. and Valerie A. Personick. "Deindustrialization and the Shift to Serv ices." Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 109, No. 6 (June 1986). TABLE 3-7.-OCCUPATION OF EMPLOYED WORKERS BY AGE: 1987 Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unpublished data from the 1987 Current Population Survey. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unpublished data from THE FEMALE SHARE OF THE OLDER LABOR FORCE DOUBLED BETWEEN 1950 AND 1987 Due to the continuing trend of males retiring earlier, the female share of the older paid work force doubled between 1950 and 1987.6 In 1950, one of every five workers aged 55 and over was a woman. By 1987, women accounted for two out of five older work 6 U.S. Department of Labor. "Employment in Perspective: Women in the Labor Force, 1988". ers. However, in 1987, one of every five women aged 55 and over was in the labor force-about the same proportion as 20 years earlier. Between 1950 and 1987 there were differences in labor force participation among subgroups of older women. Women aged 55-59 participated in the general increase in labor force activity, while the employment rates for women aged 60-61 were largely unchanged. A majority of women work in stereotyped occupations. Twothirds of women aged 55 and over (and more than half of those aged 25-34) were employed in "three traditionally female job categories—sales, administrative support (including clerical), and services." PART-TIME WORK PART-TIME WORK IS AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT FORM OF Part-time work is viewed by the working public of all ages as desirable during retirement. According to results of a nationwide poll taken by Lou Harris in 1981, about three-quarters of the labor force prefer to continue some kind of paid part-time work after retirement. The majority of the older labor force respondents to this survey felt that a flexible work schedule would be beneficial for retirees. Seventy-four percent of workers age 55 and over interviewed in the Harris survey, for instance, felt that a job that allows a day or two a week at home would be beneficial if they wanted to work after retirement. Eighty percent felt that greater availability of part-time work would be helpful, 71 percent felt that a job shared with someone else would be beneficial, and 57 percent felt that the freedom to set a flexible work schedule as long as one worked 70 hours every 2 weeks would be helpful. In contrast, far fewer individuals 55 and over (44 percent) felt that regular full-time jobs would be a help to them personally if they wanted to work after retirement. Although the actual number of older persons working part time does not begin to equal the number who report that this would be desirable, the proportion of both male and female workers on parttime schedules increases after age 65. This difference has become more dramatic in recent decades (table 3-8). For instance, the proportion of male workers age 45 to 64 on part-time schedules did not increase from 1960 to 1987, but the proportion of 65-plus male parttime workers increased from 30 to 47 percent during this same period. 7 Harris, Louis and Associates. "Aging in the Eighties: America in Transition." National Council on the Aging, 1981. |