Abstract
At a time when the U.S. is more age diverse than ever before, Americans are extending their careers for financial stability, social connection, and purpose. This article provides a brief background on the history of aging and work, from the late 1800s to present, illustrating the influence that public and organizational policies, as well as personal needs and interests, have on labor force participation. It then provides examples for how employers can create better workplaces for people of all ages, concluding with the case for why more age-inclusive workplaces lead to better results for employees, their families, and their employers.
Key Words
Older workers, ageism, quality of employment, age diversity, workplace wellbeing, Social Security
Readers of Generations know that the United States, like much of the world, has a population that is steadily aging. In 2024, the U.S. reached a historic demographic milestone: The number of people aged 62 and older—the earliest age at which Social Security retirement benefits can be claimed—officially surpassed those under the age of 18 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2025). We now have an almost equal distribution of people at every year of age, from birth to the early 70s (Halvorsen et al., 2026). Due to a complex mix of federal policy shifts and individual economic realities, more older adults are engaging in paid employment now than they have in decades.
A Brief History of Aging and Work
In the late 1800s, it was common for older people to work until physically unable to do so. When they did stop working, they only had about two years of this “retirement” until death (Munnell, 2025). Poverty among older adults was pervasive, and with some exceptions, there were no national health insurance systems or pension programs (Clark & Craig, 2018; Smith, 2023).
The social contract shifted dramatically with the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935. It became one of the most successful anti-poverty programs in the history of the U.S., creating a system in which workers would pay into a fund that would eventually provide the income necessary to retire. When Medicare was passed into law in 1965, the link between employment and survival weakened further, as older adults no longer had to rely solely on an employer for health insurance or the funds to cover their health care. Consequently, labor force participation rates for men declined from over 80% (ages 55 to 64) and over 40% (ages 65+) around 1940 to roughly 70% (ages 55 to 64) and 20% (ages 65+) in the mid-1980s (Munnell, 2025). Women, who have historically had much lower rates of formal labor force participation, have closed much of the gap due to changing roles and policies (Munnell, 2025).
Why We are Working Longer Now
Since then, however, these rates have been on a slow-but-steady climb. The average retirement age has increased from around 62 for men and 57 for women in 1986 to nearly 65 for men and 63 for women in 2024 (Center for Retirement Research, 2017; Munnell, 2025). This is due in large part to the 1983 Social Security Amendments, which incrementally raised the “full” retirement age to 67—a number that is a misnomer, as monthly benefits will continue to increase for those who wait to retire until age 70.
Due to a complex mix of federal policy shifts and individual economic realities, more older adults are engaging in paid employment now than they have in decades.
But why are people working longer? Financial need is a key driver. The shift from defined benefit plans (traditional pensions) to defined contribution plans, like 401(k)s and 403(b)s, has fundamentally changed the retirement landscape. Through defined benefit plans, employers bear the responsibility of funding and managing a guaranteed lifetime income stream, yet for the majority of workers with access to employer-sponsored retirement savings plans, that burden has shifted to the employees themselves, who must now navigate the complexities of investment risk and long-term savings independently. Savings rates foretell a financially precarious retirement: Our analysis of data from the Federal Reserve Board (2026) indicates that nearly one-third of Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 have less than $50,000 in their combined savings and investment accounts, with an additional 10% having between $50,000 and $100,000 saved in 2024. Another study of older workers found that nearly half reported needing to continue working to maintain their current lifestyle, due to inflation or increased costs of living, and to have a “safety net” in retirement (Voya Cares & Easterseals, 2023). Thus, many Americans on the cusp of retirement age are in incredibly financially vulnerable positions.
Yet focusing exclusively on finances does not tell the whole story. People gain significant intangible benefits from work. Beyond the paycheck, older workers are motivated to continue working to keep their minds active, to gain a sense of purpose, for the social aspects, and, simply, because they like working or want to stay busy (Voya Cares & Easterseals, 2023). Personal stories abound: A woman in her early 60s who had left the workforce to be an informal caregiver, struggling with isolation, depression, and a lack of income following the death of her family member, and who found a new reason to get out of bed in the morning when she returned to work. A man who owns a small business and keeps running it well into his 70s to give him something to do and for the social aspects, and to make sure his few employees—older workers themselves—have a job until they retire.
The Workplace as a Determinant of Health and Well-being
It is imperative that we focus on workplaces as both physical environments and social organizations that function as determinants of health and well-being, for two key reasons. First, we spend much of our time at work. Among workers, nearly half of their waking hours are spent at work on weekdays (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). Given that our environments have a direct effect on our health and well-being, it stands to reason that our work environments do, too. Second, the American health and social welfare system is explicitly designed to rely on employers to take care of us. Employers are not just businesses, as they are also the primary conduits through which Americans access health insurance and retirement benefits. For example, about three in five workers between the ages of 50 and 64 have access to employer-provided health insurance, and a similar number have access to employer-sponsored retirement savings programs (Halvorsen & Lopez, 2025). Disparities persist: The same study shows that Hispanic older workers, for example, have lower access rates to both of these benefits than non-Hispanic older workers. Overall, only about three in 10 older workers report the ability to reduce their work hours (Halvorsen & Lopez, 2025).
Given that our environments have a direct effect on our health and well-being, it stands to reason that our work environments do, too.
Creating a Quality Workplace for All Ages
So, the question then becomes, how can employers shape work environments that are supportive, rather than harmful, to health and well-being? Researchers at the Center for Aging & Work at Boston College developed the “Quality of Employment Framework” to guide employers in supporting employees of all ages (McNamara & Pitt-Catsouphes, 2020). Table 1, below, details these eight dimensions with a specific focus on older workers.
Table 1. Dimensions of Quality Work for Older Workers
| Dimension | Description | Example for Workers 50+ | ||
| Compensation & Benefits | Fair, attractive, and competitive pay and benefits that reflect merit and cost of living. | Ensuring older workers are not passed over for roles due to assumptions of higher wages. | ||
| Development & Advancement | Opportunities for skill acquisition, learning, and upward or lateral career movement. | Offering professional development and job-training to older workers at the same rate as younger hires. | ||
| Wellness, Health & Safety | Policies and a culture that prioritize physical safety and mental health. | Providing ergonomic assessments to reduce physical strain and offering sick leave for personal health and family caregiving needs. | ||
| Meaningful Work | Opportunities to perform fulfilling tasks that use one’s initiative and core competencies. | Designing roles that enable cross-generational mentorship and increasing worker voice in organizational decisions. | ||
| Security & Predictability | Clear communication regarding terms of employment and transparent organizational decision-making. | Providing clear, long-term projections regarding department restructuring to allow older workers to make informed decisions about their retirement timeline. | ||
| Flexibility & Autonomy | Policies that allow employees to alter work hours, scheduling, or place of work (remote/hybrid). | Offering “phased retirement” options or reduced-hour schedules to allow workers to bridge the gap between full-time work and retirement. | ||
| Respect, Inclusion & Equity | A culture that encourages respectful communication and ensures equitable access to quality work conditions. | Actively reviewing recruitment and promotion processes to identify and remove age bias in decision-making and messaging. | ||
| Constructive Relationships | Promoting professional and respectful interactions between supervisors, colleagues, and direct reports. | Training managers on how to lead age-diverse teams and overcoming stereotypes about “trainability” or “tech-savviness.” |
While these dimensions provide a roadmap, institutionalized ageism—stereotyping, prejudice, or discrimination against people due to their age—can dramatically alter opportunities for finding and maintaining secure and fulfilling employment for older adults (Li et al., 2025). In fact, 60% of workers over the age of 50 report experiencing age discrimination (Perron, 2024), and when displaced, they take twice as long as their younger counterparts to find a new job (Johnson & Butrica, 2012). Ageism must be acknowledged and included in efforts to create fairer workplaces, just like other forms of systemic bias.
It should be no surprise that workplaces in which older employees feel valued—just like younger and mid-career workers—lead to better individual, family, and organizational outcomes.
To better understand how these biases manifest, it can be helpful to think of both the “fit” and “usability” of workplace benefits and supports and how they interact with age. In this view, “fit” represents the extent to which workplace policies, resources, and culture align with an employee’s specific needs, while “usability” involves the perceived risk of negative career consequences for utilizing these supports (Halvorsen et al., 2020). For example, an older worker may find a high degree of fit in phased retirement programs or paid leave programs to care for a spouse, but may not use these programs if the workplace culture does not support it or if they fear being stigmatized or being passed over for advancement opportunities.
Supportive Workplaces Lead to Better Results
It should be no surprise that workplaces in which older employees feel valued—just like younger and mid-career workers—lead to better individual, family, and organizational outcomes. In one study of participants in a job-training program for older workers and their case managers, it was revealed that ageist stereotypes and biases from supervisors can have a detrimental impact on the workers’ confidence, creating a negative feedback loop by subsequently reducing their workplace performance and further reducing their confidence (Halvorsen et al., 2023). Yet the opposite was also found: Supervisors with fewer age biases created an environment in which the older workers’ confidence grew, leading to better workplace performance. More broadly, creating organizations, policies, and cultures that value older workers leads, through that work, to more physical activity, cognitive activity, social interaction, and emotional exchange. These, then, lead to improved outcomes at the individual, family, organizational, and community levels (Matz et al., 2020).
Older workers have a lot to offer, just like workers throughout the life course. Many, but not all, need and want to continue working, but age bias and norms prevent many older workers from pursuing this path. With intentional choices, organizations can create inclusive, engaging, and productive workplaces for everyone—regardless of age.
Cal J. Halvorsen, PhD, MSW, is an Associate Professor at the Brown School of Social Work and School of Public Health and the Co-Director of the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He is also a Project Lead and Investigator at the Center for Work, Health, & Well-being at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Center for Work, Health, and Well-being in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He can be reached at chalvorsen@wustl.edu
Bruna C. Lopez, MSW, is a Doctoral Candidate at the Boston College School of Social Work in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, and can be reached at lopezpy@bc.edu
Erika Sabbath, ScD, is an Associate Professor at the Boston College School of Social Work and the Director of the Center for Work, Health, & Well-being at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Center for Work, Health, and Well-being in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and can be reached at erika.sabbath@bc.edu
Photo credit: Shutterstock/Mr.vicpix
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