Other Free Encyclopedias :: Social Issues Reference :: Social Trends in America - Vol 1

The Workforce - The Aging Workforce And Its Effects On The Future Job Market, Baby-boomer Retirement Effects

This chapter discusses the changing workforce. The workforce is continuing to grow older and become more ethnically diverse and women are increasing their share of the workforce.

In the next 20 years, 76 million Baby Boomers will be retiring. At the same time, growth is expected to add a little over 22 million jobs to the economy in just the first 10 years alone. Will succeeding generations be able to fill the jobs? The next four panels answer this question both in general terms and for specific occupations.

Over the past 50 years, more women have been entering and staying in the workforce. Women's share of the workforce is expected to increase at least until 2015. Does this mean that women will surpass men in the workforce? Two panels discuss the effects the increased workforce participation rate of women has on the overall workforce, and in various job categories. A third panel discusses how periodic recessions and recoveries affect men and women in the workforce.

As the general population becomes more ethnically and racially diverse, so does the workforce. Immigration, birth rates, the aging Baby Boomers, education levels, and workforce participation rates all affect the changing composition of the workforce. Four panels discuss all of these factors and how they affect the white, black, Hispanic-American, and Asian-American workforce populations.

A discussion of the workforce in America would not be complete without discussing the subject of illegal labor. An estimated 5.4 million people were working illegally in the United States in 2000. Four panels discuss the enforcement of illegal labor laws in this country.

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Trends in Occupations - Fastest Growing Occupations, Most Rapidly Declining Occupations, Are We Too Educated For The Future Job Market? [next] [back] Employment Trends - The Sectors - A Century Of Change, The Sectors - The Last 20 Years, Services -where More And More People Work