Since the mid 1990s, workers have been retiring later and later. But the recession has put even greater pressure on employees to keep working, according to a new report by The Conference Board titled U.S. Workers Delaying Retirement: What Businesses Can Learn from the Trends of Who, Where and Why.

According to the report's author, retirement rates declined significantly during and after the great recession. But delayed retirement can be seen more predominently in some occupations and industries, such as the healthcare industry, which experienced the largest decline in retirement rates in recent years. Conversely, there was almost no retirement delay among government workers, likely because these workers tend to receive defined benefit pension plans.

Other findings from the report include:

• The health industry experienced the largest decline in retirement rates. In 2009-2010, only 1.55 percent of full-time workers aged 55-64 retired within 12 months, compared with almost 4 percent in 2004-2007.
• The construction industry also experienced a large decline in retirement rates. This is likely the result of a long slump in the industry, which resulted in many laid-off workers trying to stay in the labor force to make up for lost income.
• Mature workers in high-paying occupations were much more likely to delay retirement than workers in low-paying ones. Those in higher-paying jobs tend to have higher financial expectations for their retirement years. Also, high-paying occupations tend to have limited physical requirements, making it easier to continue working. Among lower-paid workers, there is often an increased physical demand, and unemployment rates tend to be much higher. As a result, even if those workers wanted to continue working, finding replacement jobs is often extremely difficult, forcing them to retire.
• Delayed retirement has affected the demographic distribution within the U.S. Part of the decline in net migration to states like Florida and Arizona is likely due to the trend of delayed retirement. Fewer individuals are leaving the labor force and moving to retirement destinations. 
• Those who suffered from a significant decline in home or financial asset values, lost a job or experienced a compensation cut during the recession were much more likely to delay retirement. Workers in states where home prices suffered especially large slumps (such as California, Michigan, Florida, Arizona) were more likely to delay retirement.