New Report on Early Boomers

The MetLife Mature Market Institute has published a report called "Early Boomers: How America’s Leading Edge Baby Boomers Will Transform Aging, Work & Retirement".  This report uses federal survey data and also includes data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to describe characteristics of the Early Boomers and compares them to other age groups in the population.  "Early Boomers" or  "Leading Edge Boomers" are age 55 to age 64 and  they were born  from 1946 through 1955.  Here are some key findings of this report:

• Over the next 10 years aging Early Boomers will result in a 50% rise in the number of people 65 to 74 years old, a growth rate for that cohort not seen in 50 years.
• Early Boomer men, ages 60 to 64, have the highest level of educational attainment (37% college graduates) of any age group of men, which indicates that they are more likely to work after age 65.
• There are 1.3 million more Early Boomer women than men. This report predicts that by 2020 there will be 2 million more Early Boomer women than men. By then at least one-third of households age 65 to 74 will be headed by women.
• The Census Bureau reported that in 2009 one in four Early Boomer families had one or more of their children living with them, and that most of those children were adults.
• The labor force participation rate of Early Boomer men and women is at a 15-year high and trends suggest that it will rise even higher in the future.

The full report can be downloaded here.