Share Of Elderly Workers By Occupation: Bureau of Labor Statistics

From Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly Labor Review, February 2017, "Occupational choices of the elderly:"

From 1990 to 2010, the U.S. civilian labor force showed a substantial increase in average age. Over this 20-year period, the percentage of workers in the labor force ages 65 and older rose at an average annual rate of 3.4 percent, in contrast with a 0.9-percent average annual increase for those under 65. This difference was due partly to the difference in average annual population growth for the two age groups, 1.4 percent for the 65-and-older group and 1.1 percent for the under-65 group. But it was due largely to the increase in the labor force participation rate of the 65-and-older group: from 11.8 percent in 1990 to 17.4 percent in 2010. This increase contrasts with a slight decline in the labor force participation rate for those under 65: from 76.6 percent in 1990 to 73.9 percent in 2010. As a result, the percentage of older workers grew from 2.8 percent to 4.6 percent, even as their unemployment rate remained below that of younger workers. Similar increases for elderly workers are projected to continue at least through 2020. What impact does this aging of the labor have on the structure of occupations?
***Table 1 {below] shows the share of workers from the elderly and 45–65 age groups in the major occupational groups. Among the occupational groups, the one with the greatest difference (both absolute and relative) in the share of workers from the two age groups is the food preparation and serving related group: 25.3 percent of the elderly work in this group, while only 3.1 percent of 45–65-year-olds do. Occupations in the group employ predominantly women, have a large share of part-time employment, and require relatively little education or strenuous activity. The group with the second-greatest absolute difference in the share of workers from the two age groups is management. Surprisingly, this occupational group has considerable part-time employment for the elderly (but not for younger workers).

Table 1. Shares of elderly (over 65) and 45–65-year-old workers, by occupational group

Occupational group	Number of cases		Percent share
	45–65	Over 65	45–65	Over 65
Management	3,529	332	13.5	9.4
Business and financial operations	1,289	139	4.9	3.9
Computer and mathematical sciences	687	36	2.6	1.0
Architecture and engineering	525	45	2.0	1.3
Life, physical, and social sciences	256	30	1.0	.8
Community and social services	493	59	1.9	1.7
Legal	374	48	1.4	1.4
Education, training, and library	1,620	184	6.2	5.2
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	435	67	1.7	1.9
Healthcare practitioner and technical	1,439	153	5.5	4.3
Healthcare support	568	59	2.2	1.7
Protective service	471	51	1.8	1.4
Food preparation and serving related	806	896	3.1	25.3
Building, grounds cleaning, and maintenance	1,225	110	4.7	3.1
Personal care and services	732	130	2.8	3.7
Sales and related	2,480	346	9.5	9.8
Office and administrative support	3,326	350	12.7	9.9
Farming, fishing, and forestry	196	22	.7	.6
Construction and extraction	1,338	87	5.1	2.5
Installation, maintenance, and repair	923	59	3.5	1.7
Production	1,685	131	6.4	3.7
Transportation and material moving	1,756	203	6.7	5.7
Total civilian	26,153	3,537	100.0	100.0
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey.

***
See original BLS article for additonal information about full-time and part-time employment of seniors.