The number of Americans 60 and older who are delaying the day they leave the workforce has fallen to its lowest level since the recession.
That's according to an annual retirement survey from CareerBuilder, which found that 53 percent of workers 60 and up are putting off retirement. That's compared with 58 percent last year and 66 percent in 2010.
According to Census Bureau data, the average retirement age for men (the age at which their labor force participation rate falls below 50 percent) rose slowly between 1985 and 2008, from a low of 62 to about 64. It has held there ever since. For women, average retirement age reached 62 in '08 and was still at that level in 2013.
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CareerBuilder's survey found that 78 percent of those 60-and-over workers delaying retirement say it's because of financial reasons, and 75 percent specifically cite the recession.
Almost half of them (49 percent) say it will be at least five years until they can kiss the workplace goodbye, while 12 percent say they don't think they'll ever be able to retire. That's an increase from last year, when 11 percent said that.
Still, the fact that the average retirement age has not increased since 2008 could mean that the trend has leveled off.
The CareerBuilder survey also found that 54 percent of workers 60 and older say they'll keep working even after they retire from whatever they're currently doing. Among these, 19 percent intend to keep at it full time, while 81 percent plan to cut back to part-time. One out of six said they're pursuing a job they've always dreamed of, or some cause they're passionate about.
It remains to be seen whether, once the economic necessity has passed, older people will continue to stay in the workplace to satisfy those other goals.
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