No pensions keeping older workers on job

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- More than 40 percent of people age 55 and older were in the work force in 2010 -- the highest level in 35 years, U.S. researchers say.

"Older Americans, particularly those who worked in the private sector, increasingly have considerably less access to guaranteed levels of income such as pensions or health insurance benefits when they retire," report author Craig Copeland, a senior research associate at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, says in a statement.

"And staying in the work force longer will allow them to either build up, or rebuild, their assets."

The report, using U.S. Census Bureau data, found the percentage of Americans age 55 or older who were in the labor force declined from 34.6 percent in 1975 to 29.4 percent in 1993, but since then, the overall labor-force participation steadily increased to 40.2 percent in 2010.

For workers near retirement age -- age 55-64 -- the labor-participation rate increased almost solely because of the increase of women in the work force, while the rate for men was flat to declining. However, the rates for men and women age 65 and older increased.

The report also found that those with higher levels of education are more likely to stay at work than those with lower levels of education.