Can Older Workers Work from Home?

Mobile Share Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

The brief’s key findings are:

  • As the economy reopens, older workers – who are more at risk from COVID-19 – may be the last to return to work.
  • The analysis, building on recent research, explores how many of these older workers can work from home.
  • Perhaps surprisingly, older workers are as well situated as younger workers in terms of having “work from home” jobs.
  • However, only about 45 percent of all older workers are in such jobs, and they tend to be those with higher earnings and more education.
  • As a result, many of the most vulnerable older workers will face either the health risk of returning to work too early or the economic risk of running out of money.