June 23, 2005 | Read Time: 2 minutes
By Brennen Jensen
Nearly half of people age 50 to 70 hope that after they retire they will be able to take jobs that improve the quality of life in their communities, a new survey says. Fewer than 15 percent of people in that age group, however, think it will be very easy to find such jobs, and a majority support public-policy changes — such as providing free or low-cost job training for older Americans — to lessen barriers to obtaining such employment.
The New Face of Work Survey was developed by Civic Ventures, a nonprofit group in San Francisco that seeks to involve older people in civic activities, and was financed by the MetLife Foundation, in New York. It was based on phone interviews conducted with 1,000 Americans.
The desire for so-called good-works jobs was highest among people age 50 to 59, people who are members of the baby-boom generation. Some 65 percent of these respondents said they wanted work to continue to be part of their lives after passing the traditional retirement age, with 58 percent saying they wanted jobs that benefited their community.
Education Jobs Desirable
Nearly 60 percent of all respondents said staying involved with people was a very important reason they would continue to work after retirement, while 57 percent said it was very important that a job give them a sense of purpose. Jobs in education and social work were among the top categories respondents expressed interest in, along with sales and retail work.
“Most debate over the contribution of the aging boomers to civic life and the nonprofit sector has centered on volunteering,” said Marc Freedman, Civic Ventures’ founder and president, via an e-mail interview. “But this study suggests that when all is said and done, their most significant contribution in this sphere may well be through work, through new roles combining continued income with a sense of purpose, connections to others, and a focus on improving the greater good.”
Results of the survey are available free on the Civic Ventures Web site; go to: http://www.civicventures.org/survey.
The organization has also released “The Boomers’ Guide to Good Work,” designed to help members of the baby-boom generation find public-service jobs; go to http://www.civicventures.org.
