A cottage industry has grown up attempting to explain the ascent of Donald Trump from reality show host to producer of the unreality show now playing at the White House. Many theories have been offered, including: a revolt against political elites; rejection of identity politics; rebellion against political and cultural norms; a sophisticated disinformation campaign mounted by the Russians. All are possible, and perhaps all are implicated in the triumph of Trumpism. But it occurs to us that there may also be a simpler explanation at hand, one neatly summed up on the front page of Tuesday’s Valley News by this headline: “Americans Retire Later, Are Sicker, Dying Earlier.” Now there’s something to look forward to.

The story beneath, by Ben Steverman of Bloomberg News, was every bit as depressing as the headline warranted. Even as more people are working past age 65, the age-adjusted mortality rate is rising and the health of those approaching retirement age is declining. Those trends suggest, Steverman reported, that millions of middle-aged Americans face the prospect of shorter and less active retirements than their parents enjoyed.

Nearly a third of Americans age 65 to 69 are still working, as are almost 20 percent of those in their early 70s (that’s up from 11 percent in 1994). The trend is expected to continue. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that by 2024, 36 percent of those 65 to 69 will be participants in the labor market, up from 22 percent in 1994.

There are several factors at play. The age at which full Social Security benefits can be claimed is gradually going up, from 65 in 2002 to 67 in 2027. Presumably, this was based on the assumption that over time, life spans would increase as well. That assumption is undercut by new data reported by Steverman about the age-adjusted mortality rate in the United States. This measure of the number of deaths per year rose 1.2 percent from 2014 to 2015, the first year-to-year increase since 2005 and only the second of greater than 1 percent since 1980.

But Social Security is not the only reason people are working later in life. Baby Boomers turned out to be far more hard-working than their countercultural provenance suggested. Many are still working because they find fulfillment in employment, want to remain active and believe they have something important to contribute.

We suspect that many more, though, are continuing to work simply because they cannot afford to retire. Older workers suffered heavily during the Great Recession, when their jobs disappeared and their savings were depleted. Moreover, their wages and job prospects were slow to rebound. Even prior to that, the disappearance of the defined-benefit pension plan in the private sector had undermined the retirement prospects for many workers.

(In this context, it is hard to understand why Republicans are considering changing the rules on contributing to 401(k) retirement plans as part of their tax reform package. More than 50 million Americans have these defined-contribution accounts, which allow them to contribute up to $18,000 a year in pretax dollars as an incentive to save for retirement. Very few people save enough, of course, but at least these accounts can partially offset the missing pensions previous generations enjoyed. Trump has said no changes will be made to 401(k) rules, but the leaders of the tax-writing committees in the House and the Senate indicate that changes are still on the table.)

For many people, a secure retirement is one of the pillars of a good life, along with the joys of family and friends, and the satisfaction of doing useful work in the world. Is it any wonder that as the prospect of a long, happy retirement recedes, its place is filled by anger and the sense that some essential part of the social compact has failed? Perhaps Trump was simply better attuned to this reality than his rivals and exploited it skillfully.