AARP: Survey Show Depth of Recession's Effect on Older Workers

An AARP survey shows that older Americans, whether working or not, are emerging from the recent recession worried about their financial future and taking actions to rebuild some measure of retirement security. According to "Recovering from the Great Recession: Long Struggle Ahead for Older Americans", published by the AARP Public Policy Institute, 24.7% of those 50 and over surveyed reported exhausting all savings during the recession, and 36.4% who had difficulty making ends meet stopped or cut back on saving for retirement. To recover some financial stability, 44.1% said they would likely work part-time in retirement, and 33.4% said that they planned to delay retirement.

“This unprecedented economic recession has left a legacy of low confidence, lower savings and the lowest employment rates in decades,” concluded [John Rother, AARP’s Executive Vice President for Policy, Strategy and International Affairs]. “While we are hopeful about improving economic conditions, this survey reminds us that older Americans will feel the effects of the recession for years to come.”

Source: AARP News Release (May 24, 2011)

Check out discussion on Huffington Post blog report on the AARP survey.