When Kim Williams and millions of other older Americans lost their jobs at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, economists wondered how many would return to work and how that loss would weigh on the economy in the future.
Williams, 62, also wondered, especially as she struggled for months to find work. But in January, she started a new job at an American Automobile Association office near her home in Waterbury, Connecticut.
Whether by choice or financial necessity, millions of older Americans have done the same in recent months. Nearly 64% of adults aged 55-64 were working in April, essentially the same rate as in February 2020. That’s a broader recovery than among most younger age groups.
The rapid rebound surprised many economists, who thought the fear of the virus — which is far deadlier for the elderly — would contribute to a wave of early retirements, especially as many people’s savings have been fattened by years of gains in the market.
But there is mounting evidence that the early retirement narrative has been overblown.
“The bottom line is that older workers have gone back to work,” said Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
For many people, retiring early was never an option. Williams spent more than 25 years in the manufacturing industry, working at Hershey’s making chocolate bars. The job paid reasonably well and offered a retirement plan and other benefits. But in 2007 Hershey’s closed the factory, transferring production partially to Mexico.
Williams, then in her 40s, went back to school, earned an associate degree in hospitality and eventually found a job as a supervisor at a local hotel. But the position paid significantly less than her job at the factory, and she used her retirement savings to cover medical expenses and other bills. When she was laid off again in June 2020, just weeks after turning 60, Williams had little savings.
Williams tried changing careers again, this time going back to school to train as a medical secretary. But she couldn’t find work in her new field. In January, with her savings depleted, she got a job at AAA for $16.50 an hour, $2 less than she earned at the factory in 2007, before accounting for inflation.
“If I could have left at 62, I would have, but I can’t,” she said. She says she will have to work at least until she can start getting her full Social Security benefit at age 67.
The fastest inflation in decades has increased pressure on people of all ages to return to work. More recently, so has the turmoil in financial markets, which has slashed retirement savings.
But even some people who could retire are choosing to return to work as the pandemic subsides.
When the gym where Jackie Anscher worked as a spin instructor on Long Island, New York, closed at the start of the pandemic, she lost her job and part of her identity.
But after spending the start of the pandemic reorganizing her life and reevaluating priorities, Anscher, 60, has started teaching spin classes again as a substitute instructor at a local gym and is looking for a more regular job. Her husband is already retired — “he’s waiting for me to go fishing,” she said — and the couple could pay her to stop working. But she’s not ready to hang up her cycling shoes.
“I liked what I had. I loved who I was at the front of the room,” she said. “For me, it’s about preserving myself.”
Translated by Luiz Roberto M. Gonçalves
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
