In the United States, some seniors can not afford to retire

While single-income families began to disappear in the last century, many seniors in the United States are now retiring for the same reason: they do not have enough money. Insufficient social security, inadequate retirement savings plans and high costs of medical care they have the idea of ​​leaving the job market something more frightening than desired.

For the first time in 57 years, the activity rate of workers of retirement age has crossed the bar of 20%, according to a new report from fund manager United Income.

In February, the number of people aged 65 and over who were working or seeking paid work doubled from a low of 10% in early 1985. The largest increase in employment is among older workers with university education; the proportion of all employees aged 65 and over with at least a university degree is now 53%, compared to 25% in 1985.

This increase in the number of university-educated older workers pushed the adjusted inflation-adjusted demographic income to an average of $ 78,000, or 63 per cent more than the $ 48,000 that older people reported in the 1990s. In comparison, young American workers The 65-year-old has recorded an average increase in income of 38% over the same period, an average of 55,000 USD. United Income's calculations are based on data recently published by the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

There is a gap between older workers who need income and those who can work and work, said Elizabeth Kelly, senior vice president of operations for United Income and former special advisor to the president at the White House National Economic Council under the Obama administration.

"These are the people with the highest level of education and the highest income, with the best health, those who continue to workbut it is likely that older people with a lower level of education and a working clbad are the ones who need it the most, "said Kelly.

BLS hopes the big wave of baby boomers older age represents the highest growth in the participation rate at least until 2024. "By 2024, the baby boomers will have reached the age of 60 to 78 years.", according to the BLS report. "And we expect some of them to continue working even after receiving social security benefits."

The the arithmetic of retirement is not prettyeven for those who seem to be in a good economic situation. Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economics at the New School for Social Research, believes that Social security replaces 40% to 50% of income before retirement. The general estimate is that people need about 80 percent of previous income retired to survive after quitting work.