The authors use the Current Population Survey to describe what they believe are the most salient aspects of labor force behavior of older men and women during the last two decades. First, they show that early retirement has increased dramatically and this trend continued through the 1980s....

The "human capital earnings function," in which earnings are expressed as a quadratic in potential experience, is probably the most widely accepted empirical specification in economics. In spite of its widespread acceptance, the human capital earnings function provides a very poor approximation...

During the last twenty-five years, annual hours worked by prime aged men fell by the equivalent of six forty-hour workweeks. The reduction was more pronounced among those younger than among mid-age workers, among black men than among white men, and among those with less schooling. Thus hours...

Trends in wages and employment of black men are contradictory. Wages are rising and employment is falling. The article first describes employment trends using data from the five decennial censuses, 1940-80, noting that education is becoming a more important determinant of participation. Next, it...