Reply #9: "Retirees" in 1910 made up 1% of the population.

[sufrommich]

"In 1910, life expectancy at birth was only 50 years. Retirement was only for the very old, and the average age of retirement from the work force was 74 years. Retirees in 1910 had surpassed the average life expectancy of a newborn by 24 years before they quit working! Life expectancies were short because so many people died in childhood or at very young ages. The hardy souls who lived through childhood illnesses and injuries actually could live a fairly long time, so a 74 year old retiree in 1910 might still live another 7 years after retirement. Very few people made it to that age, however, and those people who were "retirement age" or older in 1910 represented only about 1% of the total population."

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