Self-Employment Trends and Patterns Among Older U.S. Workers

Although self-employment is an important labor force phenomenon at older ages, there is a paucity of studies that examine the patterns of self-employment among older U.S. workers. With the leading edge of the baby boom cohort reaching retirement years, the rising rates of self employment with age suggest that it is important to have a solid understanding of who is self employed at older ages and how patterns of self-employment may be changing over time. Using cross-sectional time-series data from the annual Current Population Survey from 1968 to 2002 and cross-sectional data from the Health and Retirement Study from 1998, we examine the trend in rates of self-employment among workers age 50 and above. We describe the characteristics of older self-employed workers, in total and for subgroups, and compare them with their wage and salary counterparts.