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Indicative of this conference’s theme, Grand Challenges for Social Work, the dramatic aging of the population is leading many to rethink the way we remain engaged in later life. One trend has been for older adults to work longer in paid and unpaid roles that serve the social good. This has become known as “encore careers,” highlighting that many older adults move into these roles after leaving their career jobs. In this study, we sought to understand more about the encore careers of older Americans, as well as how they compared their work to previous careers.
Methods
An online, cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of 1,694 Americans between the ages 50 and 70 was conducted in early 2014. Respondents were asked about several facets of productive engagement in later life, including work, volunteering, and returning to school. Respondents were coded as being in encore careers if they reported working in roles that “give back to society,” including roles in health care, social services, education, and non-profit organizations. Respondents answered questions related to the impact of their work, if they were in paid roles, and if these were new or continuing roles. They were also asked to compare their current work to their previous careers on several factors.
Results
Approximately one in 20 respondents (6%) indicated that they were in work that served social needs, with about half (51%) of those reporting that this was a new role in older age. They reported working in social services (19%), education (17%), and healthcare (12%), among other fields. When asked to compare their encore careers to their mid-life work, respondents generally saw their current work more or just as positively as their previous roles. For example, the majority of respondents reported that their work was more (46%) or just as (40%) enjoyable as their previous careers, and that this work gave them more (38%) or just as much (42%) of an opportunity to contribute to society as their previous careers. However, a majority of respondents reported that their encore careers were less financially rewarding (54%) and more stressful (53%) than their previous careers. In general, those who reported being in a new type of work were more positive about their roles than those whose encore careers were related to their previous work.
Conclusions and Implications
This study sheds new light on the current work experiences of those in encore careers. When a significant proportion of Americans have not saved enough for retirement and must either choose to work longer or reduce their standards of living, encore careers are one – of several – possible solutions. This study also raises significant questions that relate to the amount of pay and stress that can be expected in this type of work in later life. Given that more Americans are approaching ages that have been traditionally associated with retirement than ever before, these findings are important for practitioners and policymakers working to help older adults remain economically and socially engaged.