“Unretirement” is the recent phenomenon of older people leaving retirement because of the rising cost of living and returning to the workforce.
This could be an opportunity for older people who haven’t had the opportunity to save enough for retirement. But it also demonstrates something about the U.S. economy.
There are currently over 500 million more open jobs than job seekers. The usual factors such as experience and education, while still important, aren't preventing people from finding well-paying jobs – employers are desperate.
Retiring comfortably is a luxury few of us get to experience. In the past, many older workers could rely on pensions or Social Security payments to relax in their later years, but those types of benefits have become rare.
Older workers usually have trouble finding jobs because of age discrimination in the workforce, but many are finding it’s been easier to get jobs lately because employers are hurting for workers.
Instead of getting their well-deserved rest, many older people are finding themselves forced to go back to work in order to survive.
After decades of work, we deserve to rest in our later years – but the U.S. economy makes that impossible for most of us. The fact that so many workers are “unretiring” shows this plainly.
“Unretirement” is an opportunity for older people to get a bit more money and eventually retire a bit more comfortably – but it’s an opportunity they shouldn’t be forced to take.