She retired in 2005 when her sewing factory closed. At 80, this Georgia woman works at the courthouse for $7.25 an hour to get by

Sawyer originally retired in 2005, but rather than live the idyllic life the town projects, she found herself forced to return, taking on a $7.25-an-hour receptionist gig at the local courthouse in order to pay bills and afford life’s necessities.

“I needed the money,” she told PBS. “I needed that extra money to survive on.”

Sawyer is one of a growing number of older Americans who are having to unretire as costs continue to climb. A growing number of those people are in Georgia.

Economic pressures

A February study by AARP found that 7% of retirees had unretired in the previous six months. Of the people in Georgia over the age of 65, 12.1% live below the poverty line, which is worse than the national average of 11.3%. And about 8.5% of people 60 years old and above are affected by food insecurity.

“Basic expenses are the number one reason older adults continue to work or job-hunt,” said Carly Roszkowski, vice president of financial resilience programming at AARP. “With the cost of living still high and many people worried that they don’t have enough saved for retirement, the trend of older adults working longer will likely continue.”

Georgia has a few things that compound the problem. The state’s minimum wage, for instance, is well below the federal rate of $7.25 per hour. In Georgia, it’s just $5.15 per hour, unless the employer is subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Meanwhile, long-term care costs are growing in the state. A study by Genworth Financial found the cost of assisted living jumped 20% in 2024 to $59,280, while homemaker services were up 12% to $64,064.

A growing number

For people 50 and older who are looking for work, AARP said 41% report they are doing so because they cannot afford everyday living costs. Making matters worse, roughly one-quarter of those older workers say that they’re worried about losing their job in the next year.

All of those expenses are far above the cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security recipients.

For workers like Sawyer, though, the return to work is about ensuring the bills they thought would be covered by their retirement savings and Social Security get paid. Any dreams of enjoying the golden years have since faded away.

“I’d have a lot done, stuff in like my bathroom and my kitchen,” Sawyer said when asked what she would do with extra money. “I would like to be able to go somewhere for a couple of days just to get away, just to have a fun day or just to get out.”