STAYING ON THE CLOCK: For some, leaving workforce continues years after retiring

Gloria Adamson, 81, is seen in Boulder, Colo. Adamson said she never planned to be working this late in life. “I simply have to work, retirement isn’t even in the picture to tell you the truth,” she says. Adam Allington via AP

BOULDER, Colo. >> The transition from employment to retirement used to be marked by a date on a calendar, along with some sheet cake, and a maybe a gold watch. Those days are long gone for most workers in the United States.

Today, the journey toward complete withdrawal from the labor force can last many years. Economists refer to the transition period as “bridge employment.” As more and more Americans either choose, or are forced, into bridge employment, the expectation of what retirement actually means is rapidly changing.

“We shouldn’t even use the word ‘retirement’ any more. It obscures more than it enlightens,” says Boston College economist Joseph Quinn.

Quinn’s research has shown that for many seniors today, retirement is not a one-time event, but rather a process. He attributes it to a changing economic picture that encourages more seniors to choose work over leisure.

Bridge jobs, Quinn says, “tend to be lower pay and less likely to have pension and health benefits, but since many people are taking these jobs voluntarily, they obviously provide some advantages — most likely flexible hours, since more than half of the bridge jobs are part-time.”

According to data from the University of Michigan’s Health and Retirement Study, roughly 6 out of 10 men and women of retirement age don’t plan to leave the labor force when they leave their full-time career jobs.

Factors leading to the appeal of bridge jobs include longer life expectancies and less physically demanding work, according to Quinn. His data also suggests the propensity to seek out bridge employment is highest at both ends of the wage spectrum, with blue-collar workers acting out of financial necessity, while wealthier workers think of it more as a lifestyle choice.

Laura Thompson drove a bus for 25 years in Detroit before retiring 16 years ago. “For a while I was completely retired,” says Thompson. “But eventually, I just felt like I still had it in me to do something, plus the extra income is nice, too.”

These days Thompson keeps busy by working part time as a chef at a local homeless shelter. She says the decision was less about necessity, and more about a desire to help out. Still, she says it isn’t uncommon for retired bus drivers to keep working.

“Our pensions have already been cut by the city,” Thompson says, “I mean, I could probably scrape by without working, but I don’t want to do that, not if I can help it.”

A somewhat open question is whether bridge jobs are truly bridges to retirement or just another job change, perhaps one of many, in a seemingly unending working career.

“I don’t want to be too Pollyannaish about bridge jobs because part of this is likely a reaction to the erosion of retirement security in the U.S.,” says Monique Morrissey, an economist with Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank with ties to organized labor.

Morrissey says older Americans are facing a gradual erosion of retirement benefits. Specifically, she points to the transition to 401(k)s over defined-benefit pensions, as well as the eventual increase in the retirement age up to 67, a move she says amounts to an “across-the-board cut in benefits.” Click here to continue reading.