[ 2021 ] Baby Boomer Retirements Causing Labor Shortage?

[dayooper]

Data from this study shows that Baby Boomers retiring is the main cause of the labor shortage.

Link

 

[Passepartout]

Data from this study shows that Baby Boomers retiring is the main cause of the labor shortage.

Seems to me that the above 'report' is an opinion piece, not a scientific study. But burrowing a little deeper, OK, people are retiring early. What's allowing this? I think it's the decoupling of employment to healthcare. Pre- ACA- working folks generally got their healthcare through their work. And since the '70's, went on Medicare as soon as they were eligible and could then retire. Since ACA, (Obamacare) their health insurance is portable. Largely paid by tax credits. This HUGE population bubble- yes- the BOOMERS. all started turning 62 in ~2008-09, and is still going on at several thousands a day and will continue for some time.

Boomers benefitted from the stock boom of the Clinton/Bush I & II years, and retired to travel and not work. They were no longer held captive to their employers' health insurance and don't HAVE TO work.

Now the cost of healthcare has been replaced by the cost of childcare to working people. Fix childcare cost, and the labor shortage will be history.

Jim

 

[elaine]

I don't understand then why restaurants and fast food have such a shortage? I didn't see a ton of 55+ workers there. I see several of places are still drive-thru only. Did those workers move into "better" pharmacy/grocery store jobs with older workers quitting?

 

[Passepartout]

I don't understand then why restaurants and fast food have such a shortage? I didn't see a ton of 55+ workers there. I see several of places are still drive-thru only. Did those workers move into "better" pharmacy/grocery store jobs with older workers quitting?

Nope. Those working folks are home taking care of their kids instead of paying somebody else to do it.

 

[elaine]

Fix childcare cost, and the labor shortage will be history.

I recall when I was having twins with a preK kid. For 3, I'd have had to bring in $50K just for after-tax daycare costs (with 5X/week work and 1.5 hr commute each way). DH (biz owner) and I dropped to PT and hired a nanny 2X/week. We had lower income, but much lower daycare. I was a creative solution that most do not have the ability to do. I cannot imagine getting 3 young babies/kids geared up and out the door everyday to daycare. And the cost is much more of the household budget now. A middle-income family would have a hard time. I'd likely have quit as well.

 

[bogey21]

Isn't the Government giving people with kids money or tax credits based on number of kids? Or is this just a proposal. If it is live, why work...

George

 

[SHG]

Seems to me that the above 'report' is an opinion piece, not a scientific study. But burrowing a little deeper, OK, people are retiring early. What's allowing this? I think it's the decoupling of employment to healthcare. Pre- ACA- working folks generally got their healthcare through their work. And since the '70's, went on Medicare as soon as they were eligible and could then retire. Since ACA, (Obamacare) their health insurance is portable. Largely paid by tax credits. This HUGE population bubble- yes- the BOOMERS. all started turning 62 in ~2008-09, and is still going on at several thousands a day and will continue for some time.

Boomers benefitted from the stock boom of the Clinton/Bush I & II years, and retired to travel and not work. They were no longer held captive to their employers' health insurance and don't HAVE TO work.

Now the cost of healthcare has been replaced by the cost of childcare to working people. Fix childcare cost, and the labor shortage will be history.

Jim

I am not understanding your theory on how healthcare cost is helping people retire sooner. If you ever looked at the ACA cost, for anyone with any reasonable income, ACA cost is prohibitively high. It would not prompt a lot of people to pay that cost and retire, myself included. If your income is low enough to actually get ACA, you probably cant afford to retire. Not sure ACA is the cause here. What am I missing?

 

[Passepartout]

I am not understanding your theory on how healthcare cost is helping people retire sooner. If you ever looked at the ACA cost, for anyone with any reasonable income, ACA cost is prohibitively high. It would not prompt a lot of people to pay that cost and retire, myself included. If your income is low enough to actually get ACA, you probably cant afford to retire. Not sure ACA is the cause here. What am I missing?

We all have our own take on it. You seem concentrated on the $ amount of the insurance. Mine is on the decoupling. If someone has to pay the same amount for coverage, whether or not they are employed and will get tax credit if their income is lower, and they have to pay childcare if they work, there is less incentive to take a $7.50/hr service sector job.

 

[SHG]

We all have our own take on it. You seem concentrated on the $ amount of the insurance. Mine is on the decoupling. If someone has to pay the same amount for coverage, whether or not they are employed and will get tax credit if their income is lower, and they have to pay childcare if they work, there is less incentive to take a $7.50/hr service sector job.

1. OK, if they are paying the same amount while working, you can be assured their pension will mean less income. So how do they continue to afford the same cost?
2. Babyboomers do not have kids in daycare? So how do you retire from a job to take a job that pays 7.50??? (By the way, in CA, most min wage jobs are paying ~$15/hr)

 

[dayooper]

Isn't the Government giving people with kids money or tax credits based on number of kids? Or is this just a proposal. If it is live, why work...

George

The $300 a month I get for my 1 eligible kid wouldn’t pay for our grocery bill.

 

[joestein]

I recall when I was having twins with a preK kid. For 3, I'd have had to bring in $50K just for after-tax daycare costs (with 5X/week work and 1.5 hr commute each way). DH (biz owner) and I dropped to PT and hired a nanny 2X/week. We had lower income, but much lower daycare. I was a creative solution that most do not have the ability to do. I cannot imagine getting 3 young babies/kids geared up and out the door everyday to daycare. And the cost is much more of the household budget now. A middle-income family would have a hard time. I'd likely have quit as well.

We had twins the year after we bought our home. My MIL watched the kids for a year or two and then we got a nanny. I believe we paid the nanny around $2K+ per month. I think that we slowly built up a balance in our HELOC as we had trouble making ends meet. I think our bonuses would go towards paying it down. But it didn't cover it 100%.

The drop in interest rates/refinancing plus our kids entered first grade and we could use before/after care at under $1K a month really made a huge change to our finances. Plus we were always making more money each year.

 

[joestein]

We all have our own take on it. You seem concentrated on the $ amount of the insurance. Mine is on the decoupling. If someone has to pay the same amount for coverage, whether or not they are employed and will get tax credit if their income is lower, and they have to pay childcare if they work, there is less incentive to take a $7.50/hr service sector job.

I dont think there are any more $7.5/hr jobs. My kids make $12/hr.

 

[CanuckTravlr]

I dont think there are any more $7.5/hr jobs. My kids make $12/hr.

I just watched a segment on "60 Minutes" on TV the other night about low-income wage earners (mostly black...surprise, surprise) in Alabama, They had raw sewage draining into their surrounding yards because there is no sewage system and they are too poor to afford a septic system. I found it heart wrenching. It has some similarities to the situation we have in some remote northern communities here in Canada.

When I did some checking to confirm the hourly wage they quoted, I must admit to being somewhat shocked. Alabama is one of five states with NO minimum wage, so the federal minimum wage of only $7.25/hr. applies. There are another 15 states where the minimum wage is the same as the federal minimum wage. So jobs with an hourly minimum rate of below $7.50/hr. do potentially still exist in 40% of US states!

 

[SueDonJ]

Isn't the Government giving people with kids money or tax credits based on number of kids? Or is this just a proposal. If it is live, why work...

George

The $300 a month I get for my 1 eligible kid wouldn’t pay for our grocery bill.

Yes, the little standard allowances, not tied to low/no income, given to parents of minor children is a token not nearly enough to make a difference that matters.

As for the aid that was released as a result of COVID-19, it wasn't ever enough to convince working people that they could quit their jobs and stay home. That is such a tired and demeaning trope that's grounded in political rhetoric.

But even if COVID-19 aid was occurring on a continuing basis it still would be nowhere near what young families have needed during this difficult time - especially the young families with single parents or two parents working in "essential" positions. They've had to deal with many unscheduled closures of daycare facilities due to positive cases in the facilities and days off for quarantining when the children are exposed outside, plus dealing with finding replacement coverage for their children so they could do their essential jobs. Both of my children and their spouses work in essential positions. Both families have two young children in daycare facilities that have had multiple days away from the facilities but they've still had to pay for the service or give up their places. Luckily they've each been able to count on grandparents on both sides of the families to fill in as needed at no cost, but they are by far the exception. The number of essential workers who have had to pay closed/unavailable daycare facilities AND caregivers providing temporary coverage is staggering - and no standard or COVID-related aid has come anywhere near to alleviating that financial burden which is still sporadically occurring.

That's what the parents of young children are facing. Now add the financial burdens of the parents of school-age children who either had to find and pay for caregivers when their children's schools shut down due to COVID-19 or give up their jobs. No, schools are not supposed to be babysitters, but the fact is there are millions of parents who work only during school hours thus caregivers are not a normal item in their household budgets.

The ramifications of COVID-19 go far beyond the illness itself, and they've only magnified the financial difficulties that families in America face every day because of the little attention that's given to their situations by some government representatives that use them as playing pieces.

 

[SmithOp]

Isn't the Government giving people with kids money or tax credits based on number of kids? Or is this just a proposal. If it is live, why work...

George

There has always been child dependent credits, the difference now is its being paid up front like the incentive payments we received.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

 

[SHG]

I just watched a segment on "60 Minutes" on TV the other night about low-income wage earners (mostly black...surprise, surprise) in Alabama, They had raw sewage draining into their surrounding yards because there is no sewage system and they are too poor to afford a septic system. I found it heart wrenching. It has some similarities to the situation we have in some remote northern communities here in Canada.

When I did some checking to confirm the hourly wage they quoted, I must admit to being somewhat shocked. Alabama is one of five states with NO minimum wage, so the federal minimum wage of only $7.25/hr. applies. There are another 15 states where the minimum wage is the same as the federal minimum wage. So jobs with an hourly minimum rate of below $7.50/hr. do potentially still exist in 40% of US states!

OK, I find this very new and interesting news. I would have not thought this possible. Thanks for sharing this.

 

[needvaca]

I just watched a segment on "60 Minutes" on TV the other night about low-income wage earners (mostly black...surprise, surprise) in Alabama, They had raw sewage draining into their surrounding yards because there is no sewage system and they are too poor to afford a septic system. I found it heart wrenching. It has some similarities to the situation we have in some remote northern communities here in Canada.

When I did some checking to confirm the hourly wage they quoted, I must admit to being somewhat shocked. Alabama is one of five states with NO minimum wage, so the federal minimum wage of only $7.25/hr. applies. There are another 15 states where the minimum wage is the same as the federal minimum wage. So jobs with an hourly minimum rate of below $7.50/hr. do potentially still exist in 40% of US states!

I saw that 60 minutes, and it was heart-wrenching and infuriating. That poor impoverished woman works 60+ hours/week for a crap wage at a chicken processing plant, and Alabama doesn't give her community sewers, so they literally have raw sewage in their backyards. As a couple doctors noted, it's as bad as a 3rd world country!

It's infuriating that so many in America are full-time working and in poverty and our government allows it. $15/hour is still below the poverty line in many areas, so $7.25 is truly immoral and a sin. It's Corporate Welfare to not raise the minimum wage to above poverty level. It hasn't kept pace with inflation since 1968.
And it's disturbing that many complain about allowing the government to give her $300 to feed her family. You can't have it both ways- either allow the minimum wage to increase to above the poverty line, or allow government credits to prevent people from starving.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

I just watched a segment on "60 Minutes" on TV the other night about low-income wage earners (mostly black...surprise, surprise) in Alabama, They had raw sewage draining into their surrounding yards because there is no sewage system and they are too poor to afford a septic system. I found it heart wrenching. It has some similarities to the situation we have in some remote northern communities here in Canada.

When I did some checking to confirm the hourly wage they quoted, I must admit to being somewhat shocked. Alabama is one of five states with NO minimum wage, so the federal minimum wage of only $7.25/hr. applies. There are another 15 states where the minimum wage is the same as the federal minimum wage. So jobs with an hourly minimum rate of below $7.50/hr. do potentially still exist in 40% of US states!

I saw that 60 Minutes story on Sunday 12/19 and was absolutely shocked at the INEFFECTIVE Alabama Board of Health Department(s) for knowingly allowing this situation to persist year after year...... It's a situation just inviting diseases to spring up.

If any of us ran a pipe (on top of the soil) out into our yards to discharge our human waste then we would be arrested for unlawful sewage disposal.

Shame on the State for not getting it's act together and start making good decisions on behalf of their population. If folks can't afford septic systems then maybe it is time for communities to install sewer systems with some of that "Build Back Better" money.




.

 

[bogey21]

I don't question what you all are saying but answer me this. Why is there a labor shortage? Some companies here in Fort Worth are paying up to $20 per hour and there are still many companies having trouble finding help. My CCRC is paying sign-up and referral bonuses in addition to having increased employee's pay. We are particularly having trouble hiring kitchen and wait staff...

George

 

[Passepartout]

I dont think there are any more $7.5/hr jobs. My kids make $12/hr.

Food service where meals are part of the pay and tipped workers here can be paid as low as $2.50/hr. as long as the tips make the minimum $7.25.

I can't imagine making that and having to pay for childcare out of it. No wonder there's a Help Wanted sign on darn near every business hereabouts.

 

[Janann]

I don't question what you all are saying but answer me this. Why is there a labor shortage? Some companies here in Fort Worth are paying up to $20 per hour and there are still many companies having trouble finding help. My CCRC is paying sign-up and referral bonuses in addition to having increased employee's pay. We are particularly having trouble hiring kitchen and wait staff...

There are many things that would need be known before you can figure out why there aren't more takers for $20/hour. What about:
The ability of the Human Resources department to efficiently get applicants through the system quickly.
Guaranteed allotment of vacation time each year. I'm guessing that at least a portion of the staff is required to work major holidays.
Consistent work schedule so that child care / elder care can be arranged.
Benefits like medical insurance, dental, etc.
Supervisors who are pleasant to work for.

Any of the above issues could be having an impact on the ability to find workers.

 

[SHG]

Food service where meals are part of the pay and tipped workers here can be paid as low as $2.50/hr. as long as the tips make the minimum $7.25.

I can't imagine making that and having to pay for childcare out of it. No wonder there's a Help Wanted sign on darn near every business hereabouts.

I have never believed that jobs like this are intended to be for people to raise a family on. I look at these jobs as part time jobs for high school or college kids. Just my thought...

 

[bogey21]

Food service where meals are part of the pay and tipped workers here can be paid as low as $2.50/hr. as long as the tips make the minimum $7.25.

My Son used to have a small restaurant in relatively small town Texas. I think he told me his wait staff was paid $2.36 per hour and usually walked out every night with between $100 - $150 per day in tips. Admittedly $500-$750 per week is not a lot after taxes even in small town Texas with kids and today's cost of living...

George

 

[needvaca]

I have never believed that jobs like this are intended to be for people to raise a family on. I look at these jobs as part time jobs for high school or college kids. Just my thought...

That’s a common myth talking point that’s passed around and many people choose to believe rather than getting educated on the topic.

There’s actually 38million poor people, many of those are the working poor, in America. Millions of people actually live on these poverty wages

A profile of the working poor, 2018

This report summarizes data on the working poor. The working poor are people who spent at least 27 weeks in the labor force(thatis, working or looking for work) but whose incomes still fell below the official poverty level.

www.bls.gov

 

[Rolltydr]

I dont think there are any more $7.5/hr jobs. My kids make $12/hr.

Ever hear of a state named Alabama? Or Mississippi? Or Arkansas? Or West Virginia? Or Louisiana? Or…?