38.3 percent of employed older Americans worked part time in 2024

In 2024, about one in five people age 65 and older participated in the labor force by working or looking for work. However, older Americans who continue to work often shift toward part-time rather than full-time employment. Among employed people age 65 and older, 38.3 percent worked part time in 2024. By comparison, 14.2 percent of workers ages 55 to 64 and 11.1 percent of workers ages 25 to 54 worked part time.

As older people spend fewer hours working, they have more time for other activities—especially leisure activities. On average, adults age 65 years and older spent 7.1 hours on leisure and sports activities per day in 2023. More than half of older adults’ leisure time was spent watching television (4.3 hours). On an average day, older adults also spent their leisure time reading (36 minutes), socializing and communicating (34 minutes), and relaxing and thinking (31 minutes). 

These data are from the Current Population Survey and the American Time Use Survey. For more information, see the article “Golden years: older Americans at work and play” along with information about older worker demographics and the “American Time Use Survey — 2023 Results.” Full-time workers are defined as those who usually work 35 hours or more per week and part-time workers as those who usually work 1 to 34 hours.