More older Americans are choosing to leave the labor force during the pandemic—for some unemployed workers, it was a decision they couldn’t avoid.
About two million baby boomers have been retiring every year since the oldest turned 65 in 2011, but between the third quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2020, that number increased to 3.2 million, said Richard Fry, a senior researcher at Pew Research Center.
“There is evidence that, yes, as a result of the pandemic, the number of boomers retiring accelerated,” he said…
“A key unknown is how many of the older workers who left the labor market, especially in the early months when millions of jobs were lost, how many will try to reenter?” The decision to come back could be that they need the money, found an attractive opportunity, or that they’re vaccinated and don’t feel there’s as much of a health risk to go back to work.
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