The majority of Americans age 50 to 70 want to continue working past retirement at jobs that benefit society, according to a new survey.

Unlike their parents, the vast majority of baby boomers in the United States told pollsters they plan to work in retirement. They need continued income and greater flexibility in retirement jobs. The survey, New Face of Work, conducted for Metropolitan Life and Civic Ventures, covered one thousand people over age 50, most of whom said they want to improve the quality of life in their communities while continuing to be employed past the traditional retirement age.

The survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates, was the first to ask baby boomers in their 50s and pre-boomers in their 60s what type of work they aspire to, what they want to accomplish through this work, and why they want to do it.

In view of critical labor shortages facing education, health care and social services, the fact that so many people are interested in good work "offers heartening evidence of a potential win-win opportunity of staggering proportions," said Marc Freedman, President of Civic Ventures, a non-profit think tank that promotes the aging of American society an asset. "We could be looking at a huge experience dividend."

Never before have so many Americans had so much experience and-given longer, healthier lifespans-so much time to use it, said Sibyl Jacobson, president and CEO of MetLife Foundation. "We have a chance to make the most of a huge human resource windfall by capturing years of investment in human and social capital."

Survey results show that boomers and pre-boomers want to do work that helps others, before and after retirement. Two out of the three types of work mentioned most often were jobs in education and social services. The third was retail.

Baby boomers-often maligned as self-centered-were ahead of the curve with 58 percent of those aged 50 to 59 interested in these "good work" jobs, while 21 percent said that they're very interested. They also want careers that are about people, purpose, and community. Almost 60 percent said staying involved with other people is very important in attracting them to a job in retirement and 57 percent said it's very important that the job give them a sense of purpose.

Boomers also have divergent attitudes about post-retirement work based on gender and race. Fifty percent of women in their 50s say the opportunity to help people in need is a very important characteristic for a post-retirement job, compared with 28 percent of men.

"Baby boomers will invent not only a new stage of life between the middle years and true old age," Freedman said, "but a new stage of work. Boomers may give back as volunteers, but this survey suggests that their most important contributions to society will likely be through work."

While those surveyed show strong interest in getting a better balance between work and life, "people believe some of their most important contributions may well lie ahead," Freedman added. "Their disposition is a powerful signal that we need to be much better at opening up opportunities in the realm of good work-including education, health care, and the social sector-if we are to fully capture the potential contributions of this experience-rich generation." Release of the survey coincides with the release of The Boomers' Guide to Good Work, an online pamphlet designed to help boomers find full or part-time public service jobs. The guide is available online at www.civicventures.org/guide.