It has been generally assumed that many Americans would like to retire at the traditional age of 65. They will only work longer because the credit crisis and housing market collapse have robbed them of their retirement savings.

The general wisdom assumes that people who are 65, many of whom will live another 20 years, would like to spend time in retirement communities somewhere in the American south. Twenty years is a long time to sit in the sun and play shuffle board.

A new Gallup poll shows that older Americans want to work even if they can afford to stay at home.

A combined 8 in 10 American workers think they will continue working full or part time after they reach retirement age. Proportionately more of these workers, 44% to 36%, say they will do so because they “want to” rather than because they “will have to.”

Based on retirement trends for the past, the numbers may surprise many people.

There is not a single explanation for the trend. Part may be due to fear that Social Security benefits could be cut as part of the government’s drive for austerity. Many pension plans have been undermined by the bad economy. And, people are often told that once they become inactive as they age, they are more likely to die. There is no more solid proof of that than that cellphones cause brain cancer.

The dangerous by-product of the trend is that it will hurt the chances that younger American will find jobs in an environment in which unemployment is nearly 9% and 14 million people are out of work. Joblessness tends to be highest among the young. People had dropped out to of the workforce as they reached 65 in the past. That made room for people in their early 20s to find jobs. The traditional cycle has begun to break down.

The fact that older Americans want to stay employed is another example of changes from the old economy that helped job creation. A job vacated is not much different from one added. The government has no formula to entice older people to retire. It also does not have the money to pay endless unemployment benefits to the young.

It would have been hard to believe just a few years ago, but old people may be a factor if current unemployment trends continue.

Methodology: Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted April 7-11, 2011, with a random sample of 534 employed adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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