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Have We Reached a Steady State Between Older Male and Female Labor Force Participation Rates?

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Older workers’ labor force participation rates have stabilized in recent years, after increasing for more than two decades. This apparent change in trend contrasts with one among younger workers, who have experienced increases in labor force participation in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. A narrative that older workers are the exception to reductions in labor force participation generally may be coming to an end. This paper explores changes in older workers’ labor force participation rates, with a focus on gender differences, to assess whether gender differences have also stabilized in recent years. We find that a change in trend occurs among older women around 2010, with a less prominent one occurring among older men around the same time. Year-on-year increases in older women’s labor force participation rates are now more or less aligned with those of older men, the product of post-World War II trends, with large numbers of women entering the labor force, having run their course. Policymakers interested in promoting continued work later in life among older workers may need to reflect on gender differences in new ways, at least with respect to overall trends.

Source: Innovation in Aging

DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igaf122.1435

Authors: Kevin Cahill, Michael Giandrea, Joseph Quinn

Institutions: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Boston College

Language: English

Topic: Retirement, Disability, and Employment

Subfield: Demography

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Reduced inequalities, Gender equality, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,977