When Americans Stop Working

Normal retirement age, also known as full retirement age, is 67 years old for those born in 1960 or later. It’s when you can get full Social Security benefits (assuming they still exist). It’s common for people to stop working before this age, but they’re veering older.

Entry and Exit

School stops, work begins, and around age 60, people start to leave work.

Overall, about 29% of people were not in the workforce in 2022, or 36% of those 16 years and older. The trough of work starts in the 20s and we start to come out of it in our late 50s.

Working More Years

More people are working until they are older despite the overall labor participation rate decreasing over the past couple decades. But as people live longer, it makes sense they’d work more to support themselves later.