How to Think About Recent Trends in the Average Retirement Age?

The brief’s key findings are:

• After a century of decline, work activity among older men stabilized in the 1980s and began to rise in the 1990s.
• This turnaround reflected changes in Social Security, retirement plans, the nature of work, education levels, and health coverage.
• In response, the average retirement age for men has risen by about three years.
• Interestingly, though, both labor force participation and the average retirement age remain below their levels in the 1960s.
• And the factors fueling recent gains may have run their course, providing little basis for policy changes like raising the Medicare eligibility age.