Young Workers Lost the Most Hours in the Great Recession

The recent recession has hit younger workers the hardest, but older employees are actually working more than they did before, according to a New York Times blog.

Using data from the Census Bureau’s Household Survey from the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Times’ Economix blog calculated the average hours worked by age in 2007 and for 2010. The blogger produced the chart below. He points out that it shows "each age group’s percentage change from 2007 to 2010. For example, the chart shows that the average 16-year-old in 2010 worked 40 percent fewer hours than the average 16-year-old did in 2007." Surprisingly, average work hours actually increased for older workers.



source: NYT

For more, including a discussion of possible explanations, see the Economix blog entry.