As more baby boomers have reached retirement age, the workforce in the U.S. has grown older, as well.
The finding is from an Aug.15 report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C.
For the report, the EBRI examined the U.S. civilian labor force through December 2023, using data from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, available through the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Four trends to know, per the report:
1. Starting in 2008, the 65 and older demographic made up an increasingly larger portion of the U.S. population age 16 and older.
2. By 2023, those 65 and older became the largest share of the population ages 16 and older.
3. By 2023, those 65 and older made up the lowest proportion of the labor force, though their share increased from 2000 to 2019.
4. While the labor force participation rates of those in their prime working ages (25–64) have remained near their mid-1990s levels, the overall share of these individuals in the labor force has significantly fallen since the mid-1990s, driven by their smaller numbers.