Part 6 Income from employment for 50-64 year olds

This section examines changes in the wage and salary levels of older workers. ^[11]

Table 3 indicates that older people have enjoyed a considerable increase in income since June 1997. Over this period, each older age band experienced an increase in their average weekly wage similar to or above the level of increase of 3.7% per annum experienced for all age groups (20-64). However, the increase in the hourly wage in each older age band was slightly lower than for the whole population (3.2% versus 3.5%). This indicates that older wage and salary workers have boosted their weekly income partly by increasing the number of hours worked. This can also be observed with the increasing amount of older workers now working full-time (see figure 9). The difference between weekly and hourly income growth is most apparent in the 60-64 year age group, who experienced a weekly wage increase of 3.8% per annum, but an hourly wage rise of only 1.2%.

The average hourly pay rate for older persons in 2006 was $21.02, only slightly higher than the rate for those aged 20-64. Since 1997, hourly pay rates for older people have remained at a level similar to or slightly above average pay rates. This plus an increase in the amount of hours worked has helped raise income levels for this age group.

The 1998 recession may have had a considerable impact on the wage levels of 60-64 year olds. In June 1997 their average hourly wage was $17.93, but this fell sharply the following year and did not recover until six years later in June 2003. The only other age group to experience a similar pattern was the 25-29 years age group. A variety of compositional effects may also explain this long dip in hourly wage rates for the 60-64 years group; however it suggests they may be a vulnerable group in an economic downturn.