President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are hardly the only examples of . Members of the baby-boom generation – Americans – are the , and in the Senate they outnumber lawmakers from all other generations combined.
Author
Matthew J. Wolf-Meyer
Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
All told, two-thirds of U.S. senators and nearly half of House lawmakers are through the Federal Employees’ Retirement System. And yet they keep working. So do the four .
They’re not alone. When given the choice, many . This is true in their weekly and annual work hours as well as the . About , even though they’ve passed the point where they are eligible for full retirement benefits and Social Security payments.
The share of older adults in the workforce is rising, although it’s not clear how many of them and how many can’t afford to stop because of .
As a , I have spent years researching the ways that American adults have generally chosen rather than reduce their work hours.
I believe that Biden’s offers an opportunity to consider what is at stake as a society when so many people , especially in prominent roles.
Retirement conventions in other countries
Maybe not for politicians, but in many occupations it now takes fewer hours of work to achieve the same labor output as a century ago, thanks to .
Yet, despite these increases in efficiency. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a government agency, most full-time U.S. employees log about .
Many Europeans work shorter hours, take from their governments than their U.S. counterparts. Not coincidentally, support of or earlier has broad support in the European Union.
In the U.S., later retirement is partly due to policy changes. For Americans born in 1960 or later, the from 65. That includes the tail end of those born during , who will turn 65 between 2025 and 2028. Retirees eligible for Social Security benefits can collect a lower level of them at 62 and get rewarded with higher levels of .
As economist Dora Costa recounts in her book “,” the convention of a set retirement age arose in the early 20th century as a result of actuarial data on life expectancy and the establishment of pensions and social security systems.
Aging and health
To be sure, , and there are benefits for society when older people remain on the job after their 65th birthday, including .
There are recurrent debates about the benefits of working through one’s later life. In some cases, research supports the . But research also supports the and their health-promoting effects. What is clear is that is the most important thing in staying healthy in old age.
But there are several drawbacks, too, related to the health issues associated with aging.
For example, routine illnesses can have , and recovery from injuries and sickness can take longer when you’re over 65 than it does for younger adults. That can mean long stretches where an employee can’t do their job.
for some people, while others experience the dramatic changes .
Unfortunately, figuring out who really should retire if they don’t volunteer to do so is tough because cognitive tests are . They often assess the rather than underlying capacities.
For example, aural tests inadvertently assess hearing comprehension by attempting to . Many tests functionally test someone’s personality rather than their cognitive capacities. People with certain personality types can mask their cognitive changes. Moreover, bias in assessing cognitive changes is often based in the .
Except in cases where someone is obviously experiencing clear-cut changes in their cognitive capacity and ability to interact with others, arguing that is often rooted in .
Social Security concerns
Basing the need for someone to retire on their perceived capacity to do the job brings unnecessary bias to this decision. In my view, setting a mandatory retirement age would provide a neutral mechanism to ensure that retirement from public service happens more smoothly than has been the case with Biden.
Many older Americans who keep working past 65 do so because they can’t afford to retire. The cost of living, including the costs associated with longevity, have outstripped the support provided by Social Security benefits. The poverty rate among adults over 65 is .
But nearly all U.S. politicians and civil servants are free to stop working when they turn 65 or soon after. They have the benefit of the and the federal employees’ , which could serve as a model for everyone else. Despite their ability to step back from their careers with few financial concerns, many of these leaders and workers remain on the job long after they could step down.
If the U.S. were to adopt a mandatory retirement age for all federal employees, it would spare at least those Americans from the difficult conversations about mental capacity many of us eventually face as we age.
In the meantime, Biden’s decision to retire offers a chance to collectively consider when Americans should retire.
Matthew J. Wolf-Meyer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
