Retire at 75? Not these folks

In N.C., thousands 75 and up keep jobs, a trend expected to get stronger

They are the great-grandparent work force.

In recent years, the number of people 75 and older with jobs has grown. The trend is driven by love of work, the need for something meaningful to do and a Depression-era fear of poverty. In North Carolina, it means about 2,000 additional workers over 75 become part of the job force each year -- doing everything from operating bridges to winning the Nobel prize.

"I love to work," said Lila Adams, 78, at her desk at Bradsher & Bunn Insurance in downtown Raleigh, where she's an agent. "I love my clients -- they're like family to me."

People born in and before the early 1930s hold nearly 58,000 jobs in North Carolina, according to most recent federal census numbers. That's a little less than 1 percent of the state work force, but demographers say the numbers will continue to swell.

By 2016, the 75-years-and-older labor force in the U.S. is expected to grow by 6.3 percent, to a total of nearly 2 million, according to a recent report from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Reasons for the boomlet include:

* Better health and longer lives for seniors.

* Higher education levels, a marker of longer careers.

* A move away from traditional pension plans to retirement based on employee contributions.

* Need for health insurance.

* Continuing increases in Social Security retirement age.

"There's a lot of research that shows people respond to economic incentives," said Robert L. Clark, an N.C. State University professor of economics and business management. "The increasing retirement age works just like a reduction in benefits.

"You could also point to some other things about changes in the demands of work," Clark added. "It's not as physical as it used to be. If you were to talk with people making cars in the factories of GM or Ford, those guys want to get out."

Older North Carolina workers include recent Nobel Prize winner Oliver Smithies, 82; UNC President Emeritus Bill Friday, 87, who continues to remain active promoting educational issues; U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, 71; and dozens of 75-and-older state employees who toil more anonymously, including bridge operators, correction workers and associate professors.

"What we hear most is that they are dependable because they want to be there," said Larry Parker, a spokesman for the Employment Security Commission, which helps older workers find jobs. "If you tell them they have to be there at 8 a.m., they're there at 7:45. Employers appreciate that."

Census numbers show that older workers' participation in the work force -- those who either have or are looking for jobs -- fell steeply between 1950 and 1985. Then the rate started rising again, particularly among men.

A variety of factors -- some, but not all financial -- comes into play when people consider whether to keep working, said Victor W. Marshall, director of the UNC-Chapel Hill Institute on Aging.

"The higher the educational level, the more likely people are to be working," Marshall said. "It's no longer acceptable to retire to the front porch. Normatively, culturally, you are supposed to be busy."

Cases of older people who want to work because they're broke are likely to increase; about a quarter of baby boomers have no significant savings, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate.

"Those are very hard to place," said Gene Norton, manager of the Raleigh office of the Employment Security Commission. "The ones who are looking for a job because they are bored, or are looking for something to do, they are fairly easy to place."