This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, April 25, 2011 - Ernie Edelmann needs a job.
She's a licensed professional counselor, has worked for 25 years with victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and rape, and she's 75.
"It would be easier if I had a part-time job," she says.
Last October, Edelmann lost her job as a licensed professional counselor when the women's shelter she worked for closed because of a lack of funding. Since then, she's been able to make it, thanks to Social Security, Edelmann says, but barely.
"It's a little tough trying to live on that. However, I can do it if I'm just very austere with my budget."
Between 1977 and 2007, the employment of people 65 and older increased by 101 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And with more and more baby boomers turning 65 this year, those numbers should erupt over the next 40 years. According to the Census Bureau, the population of the U.S. will grow by 42 percent by 2050, with one in five Americans 65 and older.
Some will work because they want to, most because they have to. Regardless, the impact of those people staying in their jobs will affect not just them, but the ways in which companies operate, and social and public policy and society overall.
Ten years ago, in March 2001, more than 4 million people 65 and older were working in or looking for jobs in the civilian labor force. In March 2011, according to the BLS, that number was more than 7 million.
Edelmann hopes to soon be part of that. Until then, she's volunteering and keeping busy, she says.
"But there's no paycheck attached to that."
Company Man
When Bob Kenney was growing up, he wanted to get a good job after college, spend the rest of his career there and leave with a good retirement. He got all those things.
Kenney worked for Union Electric, later Ameren, for 30 years. Eight years ago, he took a buyout package and has been working off and on since as a part-time project contractor.
"I may be un-retiring next week," he says, as another accounting job comes up.
This month, Kenney, of St. Louis, will drop off Ameren's medical plan and qualify for Medicare. And while he has needed the supplemental income, working has also been important for other reasons.
"It keeps you sharp," he says. "Yesterday all I did was contribute to the carbon footprint. At 65, you're really feeling healthy and you need to do something."
For Kenney, and others like him, the entire idea of retirement has changed.
But so has the economy. In past recessions, older workers often took early retirement, says Russ Signorino, executive director of the Gateway EITC Community Coalition.
"But for a lot of people these days, that's just not an option," he says.
"The finances just require it," agrees Barbara McQuitty, executive director of the nonprofit OWL, the Voice of Mid-Life and Older Women.
Many people she knows lost money in the recession. Because of hits to their 401ks, IRAs and other retirement savings, Signorino says, they still need to work.
When he looks at BLS numbers, Signorino sees a tremendous increase in the workforce participation rate of seniors over the past 10 years.
In March 2001, it was 13 percent; in March of this year, 17.8 percent.
"And it's been going up pretty steadily even during the recession years," he says.
At the same time, unemployment rates for that age group also rose. In 2001, only 137,000 people 65 and older were unemployed. In 2010, that number was 447,000.
Robert Steinman of Edwardsville, isn't really even interested in retiring. Recently, Steinman and his wife took a vacation. He tried playing golf, but he was no good.
"I'm drawn and attracted to the things that I know give me gratification," says Steinman, 64. "And my work, to me, is gratifying."
Steinman has been self-employed since 1977 as a bio-medical technician specializing in dental equipment. Now he's trying to sell his business to a friendly competitor, for whom Steinman would continue to work part-time.
These days, he says, retirement isn't a guarantee for anyone.
"I don't have to work, I work out of a desire to. Most baby boomers have to work."