Occupational Age Structure and Access for Older Workers

This paper examines covariates of the occupational age structure and the openness of jobs to older workers. Using a large number of data sets, which together span the years 1983-98, the authors focus on the structure of compensation, job skill requirements, and working hours and conditions as the principal determinants of occupational access. Older male and female workers, they find, face substantial entry barriers in occupations with steep wage profiles, pension benefits, and computer usage. In addition, union coverage is associated with limited access for older men, while older female hires are concentrated in occupations where flex-time, part-time work, and daytime shifts are common. Segregation across occupations among older new hires exceeds that for younger workers, but there is no evidence that it has worsened over time. 1 In the economics literature on aging and the labor market, scant attention has been given to the employment opportunities available to older workers or how these opportunities are related to the job content. This lack of attention is not surprising, given that older workers fare well by such standard measures as earnings, unemployment, and displacement risk. Anecdotal evidence and a limited amount o