In the U.S., as in many industrialized nations, policymakers have embraced the notion that most individuals can (and should) work longer. But changes across generations in health, family, and work may make it hard for substantial sections of the U.S. population to continue to work into their 60s or beyond. With funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Professor Lisa Berkman and Harvard Pop Center postdoctoral fellow Beth Truesdale will coordinate an edited volume of new research titled Is Working Longer in the U.S. in Jeopardy?: Development of a Book Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This project will gather an interdisciplinary community of top scholars to examine how the contexts that shape individuals’ likelihood of working longer are changing across cohorts, and how they affect some population groups—especially racial minorities and lower-income workers—more than others. The project has the potential to influence public policies that improve the workplace for older employees, and to increase the public’s understanding of aging and labor force challenges.
Researchers will shed new light on working longer and delayed retirement with Sloan Foundation grant
