A recent article in the Los Angeles Times reveals surprising statistics about the number of individuals filing for retirement. In difficult economic times like today, experts would expect to see more Americans staying at work longer to rebuild financial losses. Instead, Stephen Goss, chief actuary for the Social Security Administration, says more Americans are filing for retirement early. As the article says:
“Since the current fiscal year began Oct. 1, claims have been running 25% ahead of last year, compared with the 15% increase that had been projected as the post-World War II generation reaches eligibility for early retirement.”
It is unclear what caused the sudden surge of claims or if the trend will continue. One proposed reason for the rise in claims is that laid-off workers are claiming retirement early to ease the immediate financial burden they face. Lay-offs are coming more and more common among older workers because fewer are protected by union laws that require younger workers to be fired first. Older workers tend to have a harder time finding new employment once fired and experts believe many who retire will probably not return to the workforce once the economy picks up.
This article in BusinessWeek discusses how women are looking for creative and more manageable work schedules so they may tend to family needs and have better work/life balance. In “Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for Success” due out June 2, the two female authors cite studies that show the increasing impact of professional women on companies’ bottom lines and gives practical advice on how to create a more sane work life.
The book also cites examples of companies who have employee-friendly work programs. KPMG, a partner company of Corporate Voices, offers its staff compressed workweeks, flexible hours, telecommuting, job sharing or even reduced workloads. The firm has also implemented wellness scorecards to find out whether someone is working too hard or missing vacation time. If so, supervisors get in touch to urge a slowdown. Employees also get eight-weeks paid maternity leave (and two-thirds pay if you need more time at home).
The book gives these statistics:
78% of couples are dual-income earners
63% believe we don’t have enough time for spouses/partners
74% say we don’t have enough time for our children
35% of adults are putting significant time toward caring for an elder relative
But the most important component driving the change in the workplace is that women are finally understood to be good for business. In fact, three studies found that the more senior women at a company, the more money it makes.
Here’s a video of Michelle Obama’s talk at the Corporate Voices for Working Families’ Annual Meeting May 7 in Washington, D.C. In conjunction with her talk, Corporate Voices released the results of a study involving innovative workplace flexibility programs for hourly workers.
