Millions of Retirees Are Going Back to Work — Here’s Why
Roughly 56 million Americans have no employer-sponsored retirement plan to fall back on. Among those who do have retirement savings, the typical balance sits around $40,000 – enough to cover less than nine months of average living expenses. Yet millions of those people retired anyway, trusting that Social Security and whatever they’d set aside would be sufficient. It wasn’t, and the unretiring workforce now taking shape is the consequence.
In the past six months, 7% of retirees have re-entered the labor force, up from 6% who said the same in summer 2025, according to a new AARP survey. Teresa Ghilarducci, a labor economist and retirement security expert at The New School for Social Research, has argued that work is often the only realistic way to increase income after retirement.
According to SoFi, the average single adult’s monthly baseline spending is $4,641. The average monthly Social Security retirement benefit in January 2026 is $2,071. That leaves a gap of more than $2,500 every month – for a retirement that could last three decades.
The Savings Gap Feeding the Unretiring Workforce
According to the National Institute on Retirement Security, the average American worker has less than $1,000 saved for retirement – a figure that accounts for the tens of millions of workers who have saved nothing at all alongside those who have. For workers who do have retirement savings, the median balance stands at $40,000, according to CBS News – an amount that would last the average retiree less than nine months at typical spending levels.
Roughly 56 million U.S. workers lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, leaving them entirely dependent on Social Security or whatever they managed to set aside on their own. A 2024 AARP survey found that 20% of adults ages 50 and older have no retirement savings at all, and 70% worry that prices will continue rising faster than their income.
Many retirees planned their finances years ago using much lower estimates for housing, healthcare, insurance, and food expenses than what they face today. A nest egg sized for a 15-year retirement gets very thin when stretched across 25 or 30 years – which is now a realistic lifespan for someone retiring at 65.
Workers ages 75 and older are now the fastest-growing age group in the entire workforce, according to Pew Research Center. About 9% of adults ages 75 and older are currently employed, roughly twice the share in 1987. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the 75-and-older workforce will grow by 96.5% between 2020 and 2030 – faster than any other age cohort in the labor market.
Nearly one in five adults aged 65 and older is currently employed or looking for work, according to federal labor data.
Why Unretiring Is Harder Than It Sounds
Geoffrey Sanzenbacher, a professor of economics at Boston College and research fellow at the Center for Retirement Research, has studied unretirement for years. “Just because people aren’t unretiring doesn’t mean they don’t need to,” Sanzenbacher told CNBC, noting that some who remain in retirement are limited by health conditions or lack of opportunity rather than by choice. Older workers now face a combination of higher-than-normal inflation, stock market volatility, and a soft job market.
“In 2022, there were rising costs and a ton of jobs,” Sanzenbacher told Yahoo Finance. “In 2026, there are rising costs and not a ton of jobs.” Workers with college degrees are disproportionately more likely to successfully re-enter the workforce, Sanzenbacher noted – which means workers with the thinnest savings often face the steepest climb back in.
AARP’s 2026 age discrimination research found that about two-thirds of workers over 50 have seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace. The same research found that many workers report experiencing subtle forms of age discrimination, including assumptions that older employees are less tech-savvy (33%) or resistant to change (24%). Age discrimination in hiring is illegal under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, but during layoffs, employers often default to salary-based cuts, which in practice can become age-based cuts.
Not All of It Is Desperation
Among those who have unretired, 48% say their primary reason to return to work is financial need or a poor economic outlook, according to AARP’s labor force research. Boredom, purpose, and social connection show up as secondary drivers – 15% cited boredom and 14% said they want to stay active.
Many retirees returning to work take on flexible part-time roles, consulting, freelance work, rideshare driving, seasonal jobs, tutoring, or remote customer service rather than traditional full-time positions. Surveys show that most seniors planning to work longer prefer flexible schedules that allow them to supplement income without fully giving up retirement.
A 2019 survey by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that the majority of employers rated older workers as equally or more productive than younger ones, and that the overwhelming majority considered them equally or more attractive as candidates.
Retirement savings failures that accumulated quietly over decades are now showing up as a labor force trend. What Social Security will pay based on your specific earnings history (available through your SSA online account), what you currently spend, and what the gap actually is — these are the numbers that determine which options are realistic. A shortfall of $2,000 a month requires a different strategy than a shortfall of $500.
For people already in retirement who are considering returning to work, Sanzenbacher’s research offers a realistic frame: “It reflects that it’s getting expensive to live and to stay retired.” Flexible, part-time, or consulting arrangements are worth pursuing before full-time roles, both for practical reasons and because flexibility has made it easier for older Americans to re-enter the workforce while maintaining more control over their schedules. For those facing age discrimination in job searches, documenting every interaction and contacting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is a legal avenue that many older workers don’t use but are fully entitled to.
Disclaimer: This information is not intended to be a substitute for professional financial advice, investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and is provided for informational purposes only. Always seek the guidance of a qualified financial advisor, accountant, or other licensed professional regarding your personal financial situation or investment decisions. Do not make financial, investment, or tax decisions based solely on information presented here. Past performance is not indicative of future results, and all investments carry risk, including the potential loss of principal.
AI Disclaimer: This article was created with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by a human editor.
