How Have Older Workers Fared During the COVID-19 Recession?

The brief’s key findings are:

• While older workers have not been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 Recession, they – like their younger counterparts – have experienced layoffs.
• This study reports the prevalence of the job exits and retirements and how they vary by earnings level, using data from the Current Population Survey.
• The analysis focuses on two age groups (50-61 and 62+) and compares the patterns to the Great Recession and the pre-COVID economy.
• Not surprisingly, low earners are hit harder by recessions. And, as a group, low earners did slightly worse during the COVID Recession than the Great Recession.
• Interestingly, the high earners ages 62+ were more likely to exit a job and to retire outright in the COVID Recession than they were in the Great Recession.