>Okay, so is AP right or wrong? My first thought on
>seeing this was, "Cool, I don't blame them [for
>leaving the work force sooner]. That seems to
>implicitly acknowledge how unpleasant it all is." But
>my 2nd thought was more in accord with Joanna's: "How
>the heck are they doing this and supporting
>themselves?"
For most age groups, employment/population ratios and labor force participation rates are below their boom peaks; the only exception is older workers. For example, the EPR (total employed/population) was 56% in 1996, 58% in 2000, and 61% now.
Some older workers may be retiring early, but that's not the broad trend.
Doug