The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has recently released new data regarding the number of jobs, labor market experience, marital status, and health for Americans born between 1957 and 1964, the latter years of the baby boomer generation.
These findings build upon the bureau’s National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 – a study of 9,964 men and women who were ages 14 to 22 when first interviewed in 1979 and ages 57 to 66 when they were interviewed most recently in 2022 and 2023. The participants have been interviewed periodically throughout the past 43 years, documenting their experiences with work, education, training, income, health, and other information throughout their lifetime.
Individuals born between 1957 to 1964 held an average of 12.9 jobs between the ages of 18 to 58. At younger ages, White people held more jobs than Black and Hispanic people, but that trend decreased with age. Between the ages of 18 and 24, White people averaged 5.8 jobs, Black people averaged 4.7 jobs, and Hispanic people averaged 5.1 jobs. Each of these groups held between 4.3 and 4.7 jobs from ages 25 to 34; between 2.9 and 3.2 jobs from ages 35 to 44; between 2.1 and 2.2 jobs from ages 44 to 54; and between 1.1 and 1.3 jobs from ages 55 to 58.
Overall, Americans in this birth cohort worked 77 percent of the weeks from ages 18 to 58. While there were little to no racial differences in labor force participation among individuals with at least a bachelor’s degree, there were differences among those with a high school diploma but no college experience. White high school graduates without a college education spent 78 percent of their weeks employed and 18 percent of their weeks out of the labor force. In contrast, their Black peers spent 68 percent of weeks employed and 27 percent of weeks out of the labor force.
By age 58, 75 percent of Americans born between 1957 and 1964 had received some kind of educational training outside of their regular schooling. However, White baby boomers were more likely to have received such training than their Black and Hispanic counterparts. At age 58, 33 percent of White people, 22 percent of Black people, and 26 percent of Hispanic people had received training at work by an outsider. White people were also more likely to receive training outside of work, with 38 percent of White baby boomers reporting this type of training, compared to 24 percent of Black people and 26 percent of Hispanic people.
Marital status also varied by race and ethnicity. At age 44, 49 percent of Black people in this birth cohort were not married, compared with 26 percent of White people and 36 percent of Hispanic people. Notably, individuals who were married worked more weeks than those who were unmarried. For White people, those who were married had spent a higher percentage of weeks employed from ages 35 to 58 (84 percent versus 77 percent). The same trend was found among Black (79 percent versus 66 percent) and Hispanic people (79 percent versus 69 percent).
Among individuals who reported health limitations on their ability to work, Black people were more likely to be limited than White and Hispanic people. At age 58, 34 percent of Black people were limited in the kind or amount of work they can do, compared to 21 percent of White people and 24 percent of Hispanic people.
