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Title: Blue Collar, White Collar, Gray Collar?: The Spatial Concentration of Older Workers in the United States
Citation Type: Conference Paper
Publication Year: 2000
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Abstract: The demographic aging of the United States population has increasingly attracted the attention of both the popular media as well as academia. A growing body of interdisciplinary literature has considered some of the social and economic implications of this 'graying' population. Additionally, the impact of economic restructuring has been considered in light of this demographic transformation and the implications of issues like job availability, labor force participation rates and changing skill requirements for an aging work force. Geographers have considered the spatial effects of economic restructuring for various sectors and for various population groups. This research weaves together these areas of the literature by addressing the following question: Is there a spatial concentration of older workers in selected industrial sectors? Specifically, I consider the representation of individuals over the age of 55 employed in agriculture, manufacturing, professional services and nonprofessional services. Using data extracted from the 1990 1% sample of the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS), location quotients were calculated for each sector. The results suggest that there is a spatial concentration among older workers, especially notable within agriculture and manufacturing. The Midwest and Northeast emerge as important regions of concentration for these sectors among older workers.
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Authors: Strickland, Jamie
Conference Name: SEDAAG Annual Conference
Publisher Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Aging and Retirement, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Poverty and Welfare
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