American Workforce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

American Workforce - Essay Example tics, 2012), in 2011 just 71 percent of men had jobs, whereas in 1960’s more than 80 percent of men worked; and the share of women holding jobs rose from 36 percent in 1960 to 58 percent in 2011. Among the major worker groups, in the year 2012, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.8 percent) and Hispanics (11.0 percent) edged up in May, while the rates for adult women (7.4 percent), teenagers (24.6 percent), whites (7.4 percent), and blacks (13.6 percent) showed little or no change (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). The jobless rate for Asians was 5.2 percent in 2012 down from 7.0 percent a year earlier (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). The baby-boom generation, people born from 1946 to 1964, which has been a major force in the labor market of US for the past 33 years, has now reached its prime working years. So while 64 percent of those ages 55 to 59 worked during the mid-1980s, 73 percent worked in 2011, according to (Schulzke, 2012). In the mid-1980s, 68 percent of the 16-to-24-year-old cohort was in the workforce; by 2011 only 55 percent were (Schulzke, 2012). According to (Schulzke, 2012), Baby boomers are actually far more likely to keep working than earlier generations, and for many reasons: jobs are less physically draining, medicine has extended vitality, Social Security now pushes older workers to keep going and market reversals have erased nest eggs. However, should long-term health trends, such as rising levels of obesity and the increase in certain chronic health conditions, continue, fewer individuals than expected may be able to work long past retirement age (Schramm, 2005). Changes in demographics, specifically family structure, living arrangements and marriage rates, may also impact retirement trends. Studies have found that, after retirement, baby boomers are more likely to move to nonmetropolitan areas within their current region rather than moving to a different region