The coronavirus pandemic is forcing many older U.S. workers into early retirement, with women and men of color exiting the nation’s labor force at disproportionately high rates compared with White men.

Many of the 3 million 55- to 70-year-olds who have left the labor force since March may have little choice but to retire earlier than they’d planned, according to a recent report from The New School’s Retirement Equity Lab (ReLab). That’s because such workers face the dual hurdles of increased health risks associated with potential exposure to COVID-19 and dwindling job prospects given the nation’s double-digit rate of unemployment.

“In past recessions, employers valued experience, and they hung on to older workers and laid them off less,” said labor economist Teresa Ghilarducci, director of ReLab. “But this time, the unemployment rate for older workers is higher than it is for younger …continued .
[Source: CBS News]