5 TAKEAWAYS:

➀ New business registrations spiked during the pandemic, and many of the new entrepreneurs are believed to be older workers. “It was just unprecedented,” William Beach, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, told NPF “Living Longer” fellows in Washington. [Video | Transcript]

➁ Baby Boomers are the richest and healthiest generation ever to walk the earth. Notwithstanding concerns about how to finance retirement for the largest cohort of Americans, the Baby Boomers are enjoying longer lives, better health, more wealth, more education and more access to medical care than any generation, Beach said. They have received nearly $25 trillion of intergenerational wealth transfers, a historically unprecedented collective inheritance, and are expected to transfer close to $60 trillion in assets to their children. However, the assets of this generation are extraordinarily unequal. “We’re the wealthiest generation with the most imbalance in assets,” he said.

The Boomers are living longer and working longer, as well. The labor force participation rate of people aged 70 and above is about 9% and is expected to rise to about 16% in 2035.

➂ But Americans are not saving enough for retirement. The median savings for retirement today is just $30,000, which is not enough, Beach said.

➃ The number of grandparents who are raising children is rising. There are about 600,000 grandparents between the ages of 40 and 54 who are working and simultaneously raising a total of 849,000 grandchildren, Beach said.  (The average age of a grandparent is now 49.)

“Double that for the grandparents who are not in the labor force,” Beach said.

➄ The Bureau of Labor Statistics has a trove of data for reporters, and they promise to answer their phones. Beyond the well-covered monthly jobs report, the agency has a wide range of data useful to journalists who wish to cover workplace trends, including teleworking, and the aging worker. These include the Current Population Survey (CPS), the monthly survey of 60,000 households, the Consumption Expenditure Survey, and the survey on manufacturing, which is known both as the Current Establishment Survey and the Current Employment Survey and is usually referred to as the CES.  Bureau staff are willing to help journalists find the information they need across the various surveys and databases, Beach said.

“We have a good reputation in town of answering our calls the same day that you make them unless you make them at 8:00 at night, then we’ll get back to you,” Beach said.

This program is sponsored by AARP. NPF is solely responsible for the content.