Boom and Burst: The Baby Boomer Generation Bubble and Productive Aging
By Matthew Bahl, JD
Director, Health & Productivity Analytics
Prudential Group Insurance
By Kristin Tugman, PhD
Vice President, Health & Productivity Analytics
Prudential Group Insurance
The largest generation in our country’s history is quickly approaching retirement age. While many Baby Boomers have already retired — the oldest turn age 72 this year — 19% of people age 65 or older were working at least part-time in the second quarter of 2017. This is the highest rate since the modern retirement safety net began functioning in the late 1960s.1
Boomers have their reasons to continue working: many cannot afford to retire, and many have tied their identity to their work. But the aging workforce will be with us even after most Boomers have retired, due to key demographic trends.
U.S. population growth is slow, labor force participation rates are decreasing, and Generation X will soon start passing age 55. As a result, employees age 55 and older will increase from 21.7% of the workforce in 2014 to a projected 25% in 2024.2 The median age of the labor force is projected to reach 42.3 years old in 2026, the highest ever recorded.3 In other words, the challenge of maintaining productivity is here to stay.
As a result, employers face a key disability and productivity issue: older employees take longer to recover from a disability event (8 to 18 days longer than employees under age 40), which can add cost to an employer’s disability program and to virtually every other health and welfare program an employer offers.4
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