Retirement is a distant dream and other February stories

What do aging workers, Paw Paw patrol, the CFPB and food additives have in common? Me!

I’ve long been interested in what happens as birth rates and immigration rates fall and the country ages, as you can probably find in my work history; at The Atlantic, I traveled to Japan to write about the aging society there, reported from an aging town in Oregon called Fossil, and while at TIME also did a podcast about the graying of America on NPR’s The Indicator. Now, I have a new story out in this week’s issue of TIME, and also online about this topic:

For Many of America’s Aging Workers, ‘Retirement is a Distant Dream’

I’ve been thinking a lot about what America’s workforce will look like as it ages, since older workers are going to have to stay working longer for financial reasons. We’re living longer and longer — half of babies born in 2007 are projected to live to 103 —and many of us haven’t saved up enough money to live to 103. Or 70, if we had service industry jobs without benefits.

I traveled to Vermont, where 25% of people 65 and older are still working, to find out what the aging workforce looks like. I spent time with Walter Carpenter, who, at 69, says he doesn’t know if he’ll ever be able to retire, and who works a pretty physical job at Mad River Glen ski area in Vermont. Fun fact: I got stuck on a mountain while reporting this story since I didn’t bring a 4WD car to Vermont in the winter because I left it at home for my family. (Pro tip: Don’t travel to Vermont in the winter without a 4WD vehicle.) Walter mercifully helped me and drove me around. He was a great companion for the weekend, and a fascinating guy, as you’ll find if you read the story.

Other stories from the past few weeks:

—Today, I wrote about how Trump’s cuts to DEI and environmental justice are hurting poor, white communities who voted for him: How Trump’s Attacks on DEI Are Hurting Communities That Voted for Him

—For the issue before the one that features Walter, I wrote about Paw Patrol, a TV show and toy company that my son loved for a long time. If you’re a parent, you probably know that it’s ubiquitous, and I wanted to find out why. Long story short: It’s a TV show created by a toy company. How a Children’s Toy Company Launched a TV Juggernaut

—I wrote about how cuts to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could reverse recent consumer victories, like lowering bank overdraft fees and removing medical debt from people’s credit reports: What Cuts to the CFPB Could Mean for Consumers

—I wrote a few tariff stories: Here’s Where China’s Retaliatory Tariffs on the U.S. Could Hit the Hardest and How Trump’s Tariffs Could Affect U.S. Consumers

—And, shortly after the FDA banned red dye 3, I looked at what food additives are still banned in Europe and allowed in the U.S. Why Some Food Additives Banned in Europe Are Still on U.S. Shelves. This one was especially fun because I took to the aisles of my local grocery story, Key Foods, to look on the back of many food packages to look at which ones had ingredients banned in Europe. The answer was a lot.

There’s another piece of the aging workers story I wanted to talk briefly about here. There are many people like Walter Carpenter who are working because their jobs haven’t afforded them the stability to retire. But there are also lots of people who are still working to help out family members or former employers because there aren’t enough workers overall. This is something that’s going to continue if immigration is targeted by the current administration and birth rates stay low.

I think the workplace is going to have to change to accommodate workers in their 70s and 80s—I remember reading a great Wall Street Journal a few years ago about how factories were having older workers wear exoskeletons that could help them do heavy lifting without hurting themselves. I’m curious to hear other ways that employers are trying to extend older peoples’ work lives (aside from flexible schedules, which I mention in this piece.) Heard of anything? Let me know!

And don’t forget, read my story about Walter Carpenter in this week’s issue of TIME or online:

For Many of America’s Aging Workers, ‘Retirement Is a Distant Dream’

Books to Fall Asleep To (BFAT)

Can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this one, but I really enjoyed Fire in Paradise by Alastair Gee and Dani Anguiano. It tells the story of the most destructive fire in California history, the Camp fire, and it is unnerving to hear how slowly alarms and warnings went out and how many people were completely trapped. Maybe not great bedtime reading but interesting nonetheless.