This article is one of a series of four published as part of a collaboration between the American Society on Aging’s Generations Now blog and the Department of Journalism in Boston University’s College of Communication. The student journalists are members of Professor Meghan E. Irons’ Online Journalism class for graduate students.
After retiring in 2018, Barbara Lenihan went back to work. The 72-year-old helps other older adults downsize and move into retirement homes.
For fulfillment and financial security, Lenihan works 20–25 hours a week, making a fraction of what she used to make as a registered nurse, but she loves making a difference in other people’s lives. Still, her new job demands a lot from her physically, and she struggles to keep up with her younger co-workers.
“It is not a desk job,’’ Lenihan said.
Lenihan’s story highlights the economic struggles older people often face when they continue working after retirement. Many have no choice but to keep working due to the high cost of housing, groceries and other basic necessities.
Some older Bostonians cannot afford to leave the workforce and are laboring longer into their lives, said Andrea Burns, director of Age-Friendly Boston, which partners with the City of Boston to support older residents.
More than 11 million people in America are working past what’s considered retirement age (65 and older), according to a 2023 report from the Pew Research Center. Nearly 300,000 older adults in Massachusetts remain in the workforce, according to the Elder Index, an initiative by the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Gerontology Institute that measures the cost-of-living for older adults.
Older adults spend the most of their money on housing, followed by medication and transportation, according to the Elder Index.
Boston currently ranks No. 1 in economic insecurity for older residents, Burns said.
Elders who live in single-income households in Greater Boston spend about $3,537 per month on housing and about $1,432 on medication and other healthcare costs, according to the Elder Index.
Many older adults are struggling to keep their houses and are further strained to keep up with rising property taxes, Burns said.
Burns, whose organization helps older adults find and retain jobs, said that while many elders take short breaks from working, they cannot afford to permanently retire. Some older adults are forced to quit their jobs.
She recounted one story of an 80-year-old man who was fired from his construction job after he was prohibited from operating heavy machinery. “He told me, ‘I’ve been doing this my entire life,’ ” Burns said.
One interviewee, a former journalist, said he would never be able to retire.
Many elders are unaware of the financial and community resources available to them, said Lenihan, the registered nurse, who added that her work has improved her quality of life post-retirement. She also said it helps to have made a long-term plan earlier on in life.
“I have been preparing probably for my entire life for when I was not going to be actively employed,’’ she added.
Ramona Martinez, a 78-year-old Lawrence, Mass., resident, said she has been struggling on her limited income to find room in her budget for everyday essentials.
She said she tries to stick to a budget, but it has been increasingly difficult as costs of medication and rent grow. And she has to think twice about certain luxuries, like traveling or eating out.
“Everything is so much more expensive now,” said Martinez, who now teaches immigrants seeking to become U.S. citizens. She finds the job rewarding, she said.
“I needed to find something I truly enjoy after retiring,” she said.
At 68 years old, Mark Murphy, a former Boston Herald journalist, said he would never be able to fully retire. He and his wife have a mortgage, an old house to take care of, and rising taxes to pay off. But at least they have been able to hang onto their Brookline home, Murphy said.
“We’ll probably be paying a mortgage for the rest of our lives,” Murphy added.
After he retired in 2022, Murphy found a job driving an ice cream delivery truck. He later got work as a courier for the Brookline Senior Center and as a driver for Meals on Wheels.
Tom Ouellette, a 70-year-old artist, said retirement at his age is difficult to fathom. “What would I do?’’ he said.
The self-employed art instructor and painter has been teaching oil painting, specifically portraiture and figures, at Fenway Studios for the past year and a half. Ouellette said he lost students during the pandemic. His gallery closed and he couldn’t keep up with the membership he had in a professional arts club.
“I waited until I was 70 to collect my Social Security,’’ he said. “I could live on it—if I didn’t do anything but stay home and watch TV.”
In between paintings in his studio, Ouellette recently said he has roughly $20,000 to $30,000 in expenses per year but makes half that amount.
So, he keeps on working.
Mia Kovachev, Alissa Yoon, MA, Jose Rodriguez, and Devan Adegbile are pursuing master’s degrees in journalism at Boston University (BU). Ellen Geirsdottir Haakansson is pursuing a master’s in media science at BU.
