Economic Potential

“The economy’s potential to grow is largely determined by the growth of the labor force and by productivity growth output per worker,” Yellen said in Senate testimony on Feb. 14. “We have an aging population and labor force growth is relatively slow, and productivity growth in recent years has been depressingly slow.”

The implication here? If older workers continue to stay in the labor force longer, aging won’t be as much of a drag on labor force participation. That would help to stabilize labor force growth, keeping the economy expanding more than it otherwise would.

Productivity is difficult to understand, and policy makers still don’t know exactly why it has slumped. Labor force growth is more straightforward. It comes as immigrants enter the country, as more people choose to work, or as young people enter the workforce in greater numbers than older people leave it.

The outlook here isn’t rosy. Inflows of undocumented workers have slowed and immigration could decline further under an administration that’s pledged stricter enforcement and restrictions. What’s more, a smaller share of people in their prime work than in the past.

Baby Boomers

And the aging of baby boomers remains a concern, as the massive generation quickly heads into retirement age. While millennials are another big group, they’ve mostly matured into their prime working years -- they’re between 20 and 36 today -- and the generation after them is much smaller, meaning they won’t pack the same punch when it comes to offsetting retirements.

And that’s where the story comes back to Lenowitz. If organizations like NIH -- which AARP has repeatedly ranked among the best employers of older workers -- can work with people like him to keep them working for longer, it could keep the labor force bigger for more time.

Policies that accomplish that end would also come at personal benefit to today’s soon-to-be seniors. While Lenowitz’s decision to work wasn’t motivated by money, many of his contemporaries have inadequate retirement savings.

Though it’s harder to measure, work is also a way to stay connected and fulfilled. That’s Lenowitz’s rationale for continuing to dial into conference calls, even though he’s traded in his suit and tie for a sports shirt, and the Bethesda, Maryland, office for his home in the Blue Ridge Mountains.