How Do Older Americans Spend Their Time?

byBarbara Butrica

The Urban Institute

The research reported herein was supported through a grant from Atlantic Philanthropies as part of their Ageing Programme, which seeks “to bring about lasting improvement in the lives of older adults and to transform how ageing is viewed and older persons are treated by society.”

What people say and what they do sometimes differs.

• Life changing events such as a job loss, the onset of health problems, and a death of a spouse can force people to change their plans.

• Even under the best of circumstances, reality may fall short of expectations.

Key Questions

• How many older Americans are engaged in productive activities?

• What activities do older adults engage in?

• How does engagement vary by age and other personal characteristics?

Data: Health and Retirement Study

• Nationally representative survey of older Americans.

• Began in 1992 with a sample of adults born between 1931 and 1941 (ages 51 to 61) and their spouses, who were re-interviewed every two years.

• Other cohorts were added to the survey design after 1992.

Data: Health and Retirement Study

• The 2004 HRS includes 20,129 respondents ages 51 and older.

• The HRS asks respondents about volunteering, parent care, child care, spouse care, work, time spent helping others, as well as their financial resources, religiosity, health status, and basic demographics.

What does productive aging include?

• Paid work

• Caregiving

• Formal volunteering

• Informal volunteering

Eight out of ten adults age 55+ engage in productive activities.

80

93

81

58

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

All 55-64 65-74 75+

Perc

ent o

f Adu

lts A

ge 5

5+ in

200

2

What older Americans do with their time varies by age...

19

34

28

9

38

52

35

29

51

62

34

65

39

52

33

39

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Caregiving

Informal volunteering

Formal volunteering

Work

Percent of Adults Age 55+ in 2002

All55-6465-7475+

…and health status.

34

35

19

20

38

51

31

39

42

63

43

51

39

52

33

39

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Caregiving

Informal volunteering

Formal volunteering

Work

Percent of Adults Age 55+ in 2002

AllExcellentGoodPoor

Who works past age 65?

15

18

20

25

19

8

21

14

25

13

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Low Wealth

Medium Wealth

High Wealth

Health Excellent

Health Good

Health Poor

Married

Not Married

Male

Female

Percent of Adults 65+ in 2002

Although the nature of work varies significantly by wealth…

2221

17

30

50

10

45

25

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Self-Employed Physical Effort Professional Full Time

Perc

ent o

f Wor

kers

Age

65+

in 2

002 Low Wealth

High Wealth

…satisfaction with work does not.

94

45

18

96

49

18

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Enjoy Working Happy with Current Hours Will Never Stop Working

Perc

ent o

f Wor

kers

Age

65+

in 2

002

Low Wealth

High Wealth

Nearly four out of ten adults age 55+ provide care for family members.

39

12

8

3

23

7

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Any Parent Spouse Child Grandchild MultipleGenerations

Perc

ent o

f Adu

lts A

ge 5

5+ in

200

2

Who provides caregiving?

49

45

34

41

43

38

39

39

19

38

51

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Work Full-time

Work Part-time

Not Work

Hispanic

Black

White

Female

Male

75+

65-74

55-54

Percent of Caregivers Age 55+ in 2002

The majority of all older Americans engage in multiple productive activities.

20

8

19

42

5271 49

26

2822

3232

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

All 55-64 65-74 75+

Perc

ent o

f Adu

lts A

ge 5

5+ in

200

2

Single ActivityMultiple ActivitiesNo Activity

`

Seniors who are more active say they are more satisfied with retirement.

33

42

25

34

31

3434

29

38

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Single Activity Multiple Activities No Activity

Perc

ent o

f Ret

irees

Age

55+

in 2

002

Very SatisfiedSomewhat SatisfiedNot Satisfied

However, retirement satisfaction varies by the type of engagement.

Retirees Age 55+ in 2002

8.1

-4.1

4.4

9.1

8.8

-13.4

-15.0 -10.0 -5.0 0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0

Percent Point Difference in Satisfaction Between Active and Inactive Retirees

Work and Volunteering

Formal Volunteering Only

Caregiving and Volunteering

Caregiving Only

Multiple Caregiving Tasks

Formal and Informal Volunteering

Although how people spend their time may differ from their original plans,

• Older adults’ engagement has many benefits.• Economic value

• Reduction in societal costs

• Enhanced well being

• Engagement should be encouraged.• Changes in work (flexible hours, employee benefits)

• Senior workforce development

• Supporting volunteer opportunities

• Increasing awareness

References• Butrica, Barbara A. and Simone G. Schaner. 2005. “Satisfaction and Engagement

in Retirement.” Perspectives on Productive Aging No. 2. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute.

• Butrica, Barbara A., Simone G. Schaner, and Sheila R. Zedlewski. 2006. “Enjoying the Golden Work Years.” Perspectives on Productive Aging No. 6. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute.

• Hurd, Michael and Susann Rohwedder. 2007. “Time-Use in the Older Population.”Working Paper No. WR-463. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.

• Johnson, Richard W. and Simone G. Schaner. 2005. “Many Older Americans Engage in Caregiving Activities.” Perspectives on Productive Aging No. 3. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute.

• Johnson, Richard W. and Simone G. Schaner. 2005. “Value of Unpaid Activities by Older Americans Tops $160 Billion Per Year.” Perspectives on Productive Aging No. 4. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute.

• Krantz-Kent, Rachel and Jay Stewart. 2007. “How Do Older Americans Spend Their Time?” Monthly Labor Review. 130(5): 8-26.

• Zedlewski, Sheila R. and Simone G. Schaner. 2005. “Older Adults’ Engagement Should Be Recognized and Encouraged.” Perspectives on Productive Aging No. 1. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute.

• Zedlewski, Sheila R. and Simone G. Schaner. 2006. “Older Adults Engaged As Volunteers.” Perspectives on Productive Aging No. 5. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute.

Appendix

Six out of ten adults age 55+ engage in volunteer activities.

Percent of Adults Age 55+ in 2002

Formal volunteer only10%

Informal volunteer only29%

Formal and informal volunteer23%

No volunteering38%

The likelihood of volunteering varies by personal characteristics.

Adults Age 55+ in 2002

6.0

5.1

12.9

22.5

12.1

6.4

23.0

12.8

8.3

11.8

8.9

6.2

5.4

6.2

9.5

15.7

10.6

4.9

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0

Percentage Point Increase in Likelihood of Volunteering

Informal volunteering

Formal volunteeringReligion Somewhat Important (vs. not important)

Religion Very Important (vs. not important)

Health Good (vs. fair or poor)

Health Excellent (vs. fair or poor)

College Degree (vs. < high school)

Some College (vs. < high school)

High School (vs. < high school)

White (vs. Hispanic)

Black (vs. Hispanic)

As an example, most workers also volunteer or provide care.

16

38

64

47

14

37

66

51

19

41

60

38

27

43

52

24

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Work Only Formal volunteering Informal volunteering Caregiving

Perc

ent o

f Wor

kers

Age

55+

in 2

002 All

55-6465-7475+

Older Americans contributed between $98 billion and $201 billion to society in 2002 in unpaid activities.

Note: The value of unpaid activities by adults age 55 and older in 2002 is estimated by computing the total number of hours they devote to formal volunteering, informal volunteering, and caregiving and assigning a wage to each hour. See “Value of Unpaid Activities by Older Americans Top $160 Billion Per Year” by Richard W. Johnson and Simone G. Schaner for details.

$98

$162

$201

$0

$50

$100

$150

$200

$250

Low cost Moderate cost High cost

Bill

ions

of D

olla

rs

Time spent providing care is 61% of the total value of unpaid activities.

Formal volunteer28%

Informal volunteer11%

Grandchild care24%

Parent care13%

Spouse care24%

Total Value: $162 billion

Healthy non-working adults spend 27% of their time doing unpaid work.

Neither Volunteer

Nor Caregive

Share of Time Spent on Activities by Healthy Non-Working Adults Ages 55-84

Unpaid Work27%

Self Care11%

Passive Leisure26%

Active Leisure36%

However, most of these hours are devoted to work around the house.

Neither Volunteer

Nor Caregive

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

DomesticWork

Care Work VolunteerWork

Self Care PassiveLeisure

CognitiveLeisure

SocialLeisure

PhysicalLeisure

Ave

rage

Hou

rs P

er W

eek

Age 55-64Age 65-74Age 75-84

Average Hours Per Week Spent on Activities by Healthy Non-Working Adults Ages 55-84

Nearly 9 million healthy non-working adults do not volunteer or caregive.

5.4

5.4

3.52.0

3.3

3.6

8.9

Number of Healthy Non-Working Adults Ages 55-84 in 2004 (millions)

Unengaged: Age 55-64

Unengaged: Age 65-74

Unengaged: Age 75-84

Neither Volunteer

Nor Caregive

Formal Volunteer

Only

CaregiveOnly

Total Number: 23.2 million

Volunteer and Caregive

Engaged adults are younger and more educated than unengaged adults…

33

40

27

5248

22

3741

66

34

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

55-64 65-74 75-84 <= High School > High School

Age Education

Perc

ent o

f Adu

lts A

ges

55-8

4 in

200

4

EngagedUnengaged

…they are also more likely to have worked as professionals and to have higher incomes.

3335

2023

77

23

34

27

33

67

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Manager,Professional

Sales, Clerical,Service

Operator,Craftsman

Low Higher

Occupation Income

Perc

ent o

f Adu

lts A

ges

55-8

4 in

200

4 EngagedUnengaged

Other Data Sources

• American Time-Use Survey (ATUS)• Nationally representative of the noninstitutionalized

population age 15 and older. Provides age detail for respondents up to age 80.

• Respondents sequentially report their activities for a 24-hour period.

• Also includes information about household composition, demographics, and labor force status.

• Consumption and Activities Mail Survey (CAMS)• Nationally representative of noninstitutionalized

population age 51 and older.• Respondents report how much time they spent on 31

activities over the last week or last month.• Can be merged with the core HRS to get demographic,

economic, and health information.

Other Findings

• Krantz-Kent and Steward, 2007 (ATUS)• Most age differences in time use were due to

differences in employment status.

• The average day of non-workers is similar to the average non-work day of employed persons.

• Hours working declined with age, but most of this decline was due to a shift from full-time to part-time employment.

• Men take part-time jobs to make a gradual transition into full retirement. Women are more likely to work part-time at all ages.

Other Findings

• Hurd and Rohwedder, 2007 (CAMS)• CAMS and the ATUS show similar levels of time-use by

category and similar variation by age.

• Total hours on all activities vary substantially by health status and age.

• Hours worked are much lower for those in poor health than for those in excellent health.

• In contrast, time spent on personal care, such as treating a medical condition, are higher for those in poor health than for those in excellent health.