At first glance, these worries seem misplaced. The unemployment rate among Americans age 55+ is at a near-record low (2.9%). The labor force participation rate of seniors has been surging over the past decade: Altogether, there are over one million Americans age 65+ who are working today who would not have been working at the LFP rates of twenty years ago (see: "Are Retiring Boomers Suppressing Wage Growth?"). And average annual real wage growth among senior workers since 2007 (3.5%) has been vastly higher than wage growth among younger workers (under 1.0%). So what's all this Boomer bellyaching?

We need to look more closely. In fact, a lot more Americans age 55+ are working today because Boomers are in greater financial need than the last two generations to reach this phase of life. What's more, those individuals who are in greatest need (least skilled, least educated, poorest health) are the least able to remain employed; conversely, the high-end professionals in their 60s and 70s are the ones who are putting off retirement the longest. That's why the average senior wage has been rising so fast. It's a selection effect. In other words, yes, a lot more Boomers are working, but those who most need the income are not the ones working more. Instead, they are retiring early on DI, scraping by on nothing, or taking any hourly job available (see: "Why Are Seniors Flipping Burgers?").

So what explains the Boomers' great financial need? So many forces. Middle-management downsizing. Shallower wage trajectories and rising wage inequality. Lower lifetime savings rates. The disappearance of DB pension coverage. Failure to enroll in or roll over voluntary pensions (like 401(k)s). Eroding Social Security benefit formulas. Less health care coverage. Higher health care costs. Higher rates of chronic and emotional illness (see: "Boomer Malaise" and "All the Lonely People"). Higher divorce rates. More expenses incurred on behalf of their kids, especially for education. Much greater indebtedness. And an explosion in personal bankruptcy rates (See: "The Old and the Bankrupt"). With each passing year, btw, this problem will become more acute as we see late-wave Boomers hit their early 60s--and early-wave Xers hit their early 50s.