Fewer Retirements Hurting Jobs?

Out in Bethlehem they're killing time
Filling out forms
Standing in line
--Billy Joel

Have heard various pundits recently opine that one 'problem' with the current job market is that older people continue to work instead of retiring, Consequently, they are staying in jobs that 'should' be passed on to younger people. Because retired people no longer 'count' in the unemployment figures as currently measured, then jobless numbers are 'artificially high.'

The logical extension of this thought process is to have everyone retire--thus making the job market really strong!

The faulty argument is a variation of Bastiat's Broken Window Fallacy.

A retired person at any age who is capable of working represents lost productivity. Like the broken window that must be fixed, retirees are non-productive entites that must be supported. Retirees may be self-supported. More likely, however, is that they will require the support of others to some degree.

In either case, retired people are net consumers of resources rather than net generators of resources. The earlier that people retire, the larger the draw on resources.

Society is better off when all people capable of working are working.