In anticipation of rambunctious children returning to the classroom in the fall, older teachers are sounding alarms about how challenging it will be to make the
schools safe for themselves, as well as the children and families. Their fears about going back to work in a pandemic are shared by older workers around the
country with chronic conditions, which increase the mortality rate for people who contract COVID-19.
More than half of U.S. workers who are between ages 55 and 64 are in jobs that can’t be done remotely, a new study estimates. Their flexibility to work at
home isn’t much different than younger adults. But older Americans who are weighing whether to return to work face a dilemma that is of less concern to
young, healthy workers.
By linking information about jobs to individuals in a national survey, researchers at the Center for Retirement Research reported on the ability to work remotely
based on the characteristics of the workers themselves. They found that women, who often gravitate to jobs that give them more flexibility or the ability to work
part-time, are more likely to be in jobs they can do at home—think about travel agents (85 percent are women) and freelance writers (67 percent). The analysis
also confirmed something the media have reported anecdotally: working remotely is a perk of being a well-paid professional. About six in 10 workers in the highest
earnings bracket can do their jobs at home, compared with just over three out of 10 workers in the lowest two earnings brackets.
The older workers must choose between “health risks—returning to work before the virus is under control—or economic risks—delaying work until
the environment is safe, which may exhaust their resources,” concluded researchers. The pandemic has exposed many inequities. The health risks of going to work and the ability to work from home are among these issues.
You can find the full article at Squared Away Blog.