• In 2003, there were 21.2 million workers age 55 and older, which was 15.4 percent of total employment.
  
  
• Women between the ages of 55 and 64 have steadily increased their labor force participation rates from 42.0 percent in 1985 to 49.2 percent in 1995 and to 56.6 percent in 2003.
  
  
• Persons age 55 and over accounted for 15.1 percent of the total labor force in 2003. The General Accounting Office (GAO) projects that this age group will account for 19.2 percent of the labor force in 2015.
  
  
• In 2000, the average retirement age for men was 62 compared to 65 thirty years ago. The average age for women in 2000 was just under 63 compared to 65 in 1965.¹
  
  
• According to the GAO, between 2000 and 2008, the percentage of teachers older than 55 will increase from 13 percent to 19 percent.²
  
  
• According to the same GAO study, people 55 and older in nursing and health-related fields will increase from 12 to 18 between 2000 and 2008.3
  
  

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¹The Aging of the American Workforce, U.S. Delegation Paper, Belmont Conference, November 2000.
² "Older Workers: Demographic Trends Pose Challenges for Employers and Workers," General Accounting Office, Report GAO-02-85, November 2001.
³"Older Workers: Demographic Trends Pose Challenges for Employers and Workers," General Accounting Office, Report GAO-02-85, November 2001.