How Longer Work Lives Ease the Crunch of Population Aging

Nicole Maestas, Julie Zissimopoulos

Published Dec 22, 2009

Population aging is not a looming crisis of the future — it is already here. The ultimate impact of population aging on our standard of living in the future depends a great deal on how long people choose to work before they retire from the labor force. Here there is reason for optimism. In this paper the authors document the striking shift in the U.S. population age distribution well under way, identify the primary reasons for the historic turnaround in labor force participation, and argue that forces such as changes in the structure of employer-provided pensions and Social Security are likely to propel future increases. They explore the diversity of adaptations already at play in the labor market as older men and women seek to extend their working lives and finally, relate these findings in the U.S. to other OECD countries.

Topics

Document Details

Citation

RAND Style Manual
Maestas, Nicole and Julie Zissimopoulos, How Longer Work Lives Ease the Crunch of Population Aging, RAND Corporation, WR-728, 2009. As of October 6, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WR728.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Maestas, Nicole and Julie Zissimopoulos, How Longer Work Lives Ease the Crunch of Population Aging. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2009. https://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WR728.html.
BibTeX RIS

This paper series was made possible by the NIA funded RAND Center for the Study of Aging and the NICHD funded RAND Population Research Center.

This publication is part of the RAND working paper series. RAND working papers are intended to share researchers' latest findings and to solicit informal peer review. They have been approved for circulation by RAND but may not have been formally edited or peer reviewed.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.