Baby boomers working later
Greetings everyone! I'm Jayna Sheffield at the business desk and today I'd like to share an article of interest with you.
This article was sent to us by our Ottawa Canada bureau and my comments to this article is that maybe, just maybe, because of the proximity of Canada to the United States, a similar pattern may already be taking place right here in our backyard.
I'll let you be the judge. In the meantime, here's the article.
Increasing number of Canadians working later in life, survey finds; Changing
attitude to aging big reason older people stay in workforce
Shannon Proudfoot
Ottawa Citizen , Aug. 25, 2007
Canadians are working later in life and that may cushion a potential labour
> shortage when baby boomers start to retire, a report shows.
An estimated 2.1 million people age 55 to 64 were employed or looking for
jobs in 2006 -- double the number who were working 30 years before,
according to a study released yesterday by Statistics Canada. Most of their
jobs were in the service sector and the vast majority worked full time.
Older workers made up 12 per cent of the Canadian labour force last year,
while they comprised 10 per cent in 1976. That reflects an aging population
and the fact that more people are working later.
"It's not only more older people -- it's not the same older person as it was
before," says David Cravit, 62, senior vice-president of marketing for the
50Plus Group, the largest Internet portal for baby boomers and seniors in
the country. ''I look and act and think 15 years younger than my
chronological age. I'm not here to be sitting in a rocking chair playing
cribbage for five years waiting for the axe to fall."
Three-quarters (76 per cent) of men age 55 to 59 either had a job or were
looking for one last year, as were 62 per cent of women. In the 60 to 64
group, 53 per cent of men were still in the work force and a record-high 37
per cent of women were in the same situation. The data came from the Labour
Force Survey.
Baby boomers' strong attachment to work, increased education -- especially
among women -- and the near-elimination of mandatory retirement at 65 are
expected to keep more older workers on the job in the future.
"Employment is an important form of validation for this generation. Remember
that the 60-year-olds of today were the yuppies of the 1970s," says Mr.
Cravit.
The financial responsibilities of caring for aging parents or grown children
who haven't flown the nest may also be pushing the "sandwich generation" to
work longer, he adds.
Others may work to finance luxuries their pensions don't cover, Mr. Cravit
says, citing his favourite example of a Calgary man in his 80s who works
part time at a Tim Hortons outlet so he can spend three months in Mexico
each year.
Although his employer recently scrapped mandatory retirement, 60-year-old
University of British Columbia professor David Sanderson plans to leave the
workforce in five years.
That will give him and his wife the financial means and the time to enjoy
their retirement years, he says, even though he's not ready for it quite
yet.
"I love my job, but I like doing things with my wife, travelling, restoring
cars, running, those kinds of things," Mr. Sanderson says.
David Patchell-Evans, founder of GoodLife Fitness Clubs, is about to turn 54
and doesn't foresee himself retiring in the next decade.
He has a good role-model in his 87-year-old mother, who still works for the
company full time, attending every meeting and scrutinizing the balance
sheets.
"Most people still want to get young, we don't want to get old," he says.
"And old is a very relative thing. I'm convinced it's not a state of age,
it's a state of attitude."
attitude to aging big reason older people stay in workforce
Shannon Proudfoot
Ottawa Citizen , Aug. 25, 2007
Canadians are working later in life and that may cushion a potential labour
> shortage when baby boomers start to retire, a report shows.
An estimated 2.1 million people age 55 to 64 were employed or looking for
jobs in 2006 -- double the number who were working 30 years before,
according to a study released yesterday by Statistics Canada. Most of their
jobs were in the service sector and the vast majority worked full time.
Older workers made up 12 per cent of the Canadian labour force last year,
while they comprised 10 per cent in 1976. That reflects an aging population
and the fact that more people are working later.
"It's not only more older people -- it's not the same older person as it was
before," says David Cravit, 62, senior vice-president of marketing for the
50Plus Group, the largest Internet portal for baby boomers and seniors in
the country. ''I look and act and think 15 years younger than my
chronological age. I'm not here to be sitting in a rocking chair playing
cribbage for five years waiting for the axe to fall."
Three-quarters (76 per cent) of men age 55 to 59 either had a job or were
looking for one last year, as were 62 per cent of women. In the 60 to 64
group, 53 per cent of men were still in the work force and a record-high 37
per cent of women were in the same situation. The data came from the Labour
Force Survey.
Baby boomers' strong attachment to work, increased education -- especially
among women -- and the near-elimination of mandatory retirement at 65 are
expected to keep more older workers on the job in the future.
"Employment is an important form of validation for this generation. Remember
that the 60-year-olds of today were the yuppies of the 1970s," says Mr.
Cravit.
The financial responsibilities of caring for aging parents or grown children
who haven't flown the nest may also be pushing the "sandwich generation" to
work longer, he adds.
Others may work to finance luxuries their pensions don't cover, Mr. Cravit
says, citing his favourite example of a Calgary man in his 80s who works
part time at a Tim Hortons outlet so he can spend three months in Mexico
each year.
Although his employer recently scrapped mandatory retirement, 60-year-old
University of British Columbia professor David Sanderson plans to leave the
workforce in five years.
That will give him and his wife the financial means and the time to enjoy
their retirement years, he says, even though he's not ready for it quite
yet.
"I love my job, but I like doing things with my wife, travelling, restoring
cars, running, those kinds of things," Mr. Sanderson says.
David Patchell-Evans, founder of GoodLife Fitness Clubs, is about to turn 54
and doesn't foresee himself retiring in the next decade.
He has a good role-model in his 87-year-old mother, who still works for the
company full time, attending every meeting and scrutinizing the balance
sheets.
"Most people still want to get young, we don't want to get old," he says.
"And old is a very relative thing. I'm convinced it's not a state of age,
it's a state of attitude."
I'd like to leave you with some info that you can use to help you decide if you too would like to work later, or maybe you'd like to become your own boss?
How would you like to keep abreast of breaking headlines, latest trends, and up to the minute news and do it all for free? How would you like to save yourself some precious time and energy by going to a website that offers you daily updates by some very hardworking experts and all of this at no cost to you? Would you like to learn how to keep your assets safe and protected from the fast fingers of those unscrupulous scammers, identity thieves, and cyber pirates?
The experts at www.untappedwealth.com can show you how to obtain all of this plus much more and they are offering all of this for free because they are bound and determined to help you stay away from those get rich quick schemes, those scams with broken promises and smoking mirrors, and those pitfalls that could land you in endless trouble. Their fingers are strategically placed on what's going on minute by minute around the world and they bring it to you as it happens. Take advantage of their knowledge and experience and do it at no cost.
The experts at www.untappedwealth.com can show you how to obtain all of this plus much more and they are offering all of this for free because they are bound and determined to help you stay away from those get rich quick schemes, those scams with broken promises and smoking mirrors, and those pitfalls that could land you in endless trouble. Their fingers are strategically placed on what's going on minute by minute around the world and they bring it to you as it happens. Take advantage of their knowledge and experience and do it at no cost.
At the business desk, I'm Jayna Sheffield wishing you a pleasant day.
posted by Editor at
6:23 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home