How Americans Are Thinking About Aging
From how well they think they’re aging to how they rate their physical and mental health and financial security, older adults with upper incomes are doing better than those with middle or lower incomes.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Read our research on:
Retirement
All
Retirement
Publications
-
-
What the data says about Social Security
Most U.S. adults said Social Security benefits shouldn’t be reduced in any way – a view broadly shared across ages, racial and ethnic groups, partisan affiliations and income brackets.
-
Best age to get married, have a child, buy a home and retire? Here’s what Americans say
Among those who say there is a best age, many say it’s ideal to get married, have a child and buy a home between the ages of 25 and 34.
-
What Age Do People Around the World Think Is Best to Reach Major Life Milestones?
People in mostly middle-income survey countries say it’s ideal to start a family and own a home by 30, and retire by 60.
-
Older Workers Are Growing in Number and Earning Higher Wages
Roughly one-in-five Americans ages 65 and older were employed in 2023 – nearly double the share of those who were working 35 years ago.
-
How Americans View Their Jobs
Most workers are highly satisfied with their relationship with their co-workers and manager, but relatively few feel the same about their pay or opportunities for promotion.
-
Amid the pandemic, a rising share of older U.S. adults are now retired
As of the third quarter of 2021, 50.3% of U.S. adults 55 and older said they were out of the labor force due to retirement.
-
The pace of Boomer retirements has accelerated in the past year
In the third quarter of 2020, about 28.6 million Baby Boomers reported that they were out of the labor force due to retirement.
-
More older Americans are working, and working more, than they used to
More Americans ages 65 and older are employed than at any time since at least 2000, and they’re spending more time on the job.
-
Smaller Share of Women Ages 65 and Older Are Living Alone
After rising steadily for nearly a century, the share of older Americans who live alone has fallen since 1990, largely because women ages 65 to 84 are increasingly likely to live with their spouse or their children.
