Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108WORK & RETIREMEN T 46 younger counterparts. Even among full-time workers, though, the study found a substantial drop in wages with increasing age, and wage declines occurred regardless of a person’s level of education. In such cases, it appears that even the most educated workers are willing to work for relatively low wages at older ages. Job Flexibility Among workers over age 50, older people appear to have more flexible work arrangements than do younger people, as suggested by the increasing proportion with age of those who are self-employed and the significant percentage of older workers saying they could reduce their work hours if they wanted. In 2002, fewer than 20 percent of working people in their late 50s were self-employed, compared with nearly 40 percent at ages 70 to 74 and well over half of those age 80 and older (Figure 2-6). Perhaps surprisingly, a study that combined HRS data with information from the Census Bureau’s ongoing Current Population Survey found that self-employed people have higher household incomes and wealth than do wage earners (Karoly and Zissimopoulos 2004). This likely reflects the fact that the latter group often has pension plans (i.e., future wealth), whereas many self-employed people accumulate retirement resources in other forms. It also is important to note that self-employed people are less likely than other workers to have health insurance. Among people working for pay and not self- employed in 2002, the percentage who said they could reduce their working hours increased from 30 percent at ages 55 to 59 to 63 percent at ages 75 to 79. A similar but less pronounced age pattern was seen among those who wanted to increase their working hours. Whether such flexibility is necessarily to a worker’s advantage or not is a more complicated issue. An analysis of 1998 HRS data found the same pattern of increasing flexibility with age, but as noted earlier, suggested that older workers may sometimes attain job flexibility at the expense of lower wages (Haider and Loughran 2001). Moreover, these data could overstate the ability of older workers to adjust their work hours if a significant proportion of workers retire at least partly because they do not have job flexibility. The issue of flexibility in working hours is attracting considerable attention as companies and society attempt to find satisfactory accommodations for the aging labor force. Many jobs require that an individual work full-time or not at all. One recent HRS analysis looked at the effects on retirement of non-wage aspects of employment. The analysis concluded that this “minimum hour” constraint is the major firm-side factor affecting the retire- ment experience in America, and that it is much more important than factors such as job stress, perceived discrimination, and early retirement windows. A significant shift in employer policies regarding all-or-nothing working hours would propel major changes in the balance between partial retirement and full retirement (Gustman and Steinmeier 2004a). In anticipation of such changes, researchers are using HRS data to build models that estimate the potential impact on the Social Security system. Another indicator of employment flexibility might be whether or not workers would consider looking into new jobs. HRS data suggest that people become less willing to explore new job opportunities FIG. 2-6 Self-Employment among workers, by age: 2002 (Percent self-employed among persons working for pay) 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85-89 90+ 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%