During the economic downturn that began in late two thousand and seven and persisted into two thousand and nine, millions of people in their fifties and sixties were laid off, bought out, downsized or otherwise left without employment. In a reported entitled "How Will Older Workers Who Lose Their Jobs During the Great Recession Fare in the Long Run", Boston College researchers found that the latest recession impacted many more workers over the age of fifty than previous downturns.
As indicated by writer Harriet Edleson, by twenty twelve, many of these workers were still without jobs, but many have found work since then. On top of this, stock market declines and the collapse of the housing market took a toll on wealth, which has resulted in many older workers being forced back into the workforce.
One result of this is that the work force is aging even faster than had been predicted. According to the American Enterprise Institute, there are three point nine million more workers ages sixty to sixty four today than there were in two thousand and five. But there are also fewer Americans ages twenty to fifty five working today than a decade ago.
