Institutions need to rethink age and ageing
On 19 November, the Innovation Debate 2013 took place,
concentrating on a topic that for many remains hard to face up to – the Age
Crunch.
Life expectancies are continually on the rise. With every
day we live, our life expectancy increases by 5 hours. Nowadays, many of us are
expected to live well into our 80s, and in the UK, there are more people aged
60 and above (10.3 million) than there are under 18. But with society’s
obsession with youth (e.g. Botox, anti-ageing treatments), we seem to have
overlooked the challenges that come with an ageing society, such as pension
plans and employment.
In a recent business survey,* 40% of employers stated that
over-50s account for 25% or more of their workforce. It is expected that by
2020, a third of UK workers will be over the age of 50. Although business
leaders appear to value their older workforce and 81% worry that skills will be
lost when their older workers retire, only one in five employers (19%) sees
keeping older workers as a priority.
Leading government advisor on ageing, Professor Tom
Kirkwood, has warned that urgent action must be taken to preserve the mental
capital of older workers; if not, the skills gap will only continue to grow.
Baroness Sally Greengross, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, adds:
“There is also significant denial around the implications and consequences of
our rapidly ageing population in businesses and within our society as a whole…
We need to change our attitudes and to stop defining age by the number of birthday
candles we have on a cake.”
The likelihood of people being expected to work over the age
of 65 is ever increasing, but what does the population think about working
longer? Not much, it would appear – a third of those asked** would like to
retire by the age of 60, although 45% don’t feel they have adequate provisions
for their retirement.
Changes to employment and to pension schemes aren’t the only
challenges an ageing population will face. It will also require adaptations to
our current healthcare system. Professor John Appleby, chief economist at the
King’s Fund, remains hopeful about the future, however: “Ageing is often framed
in a negative light, seen as placing unsustainable pressure on health services.
But in reality, its impact on NHS costs is less dramatic than might be assumed.
Increases in life expectancy also extend the number of years of healthy life;
so, rather than increasing healthcare costs per se, they tend to defer the
costs associated with death. However, in order to cater better for the health
needs of this changing demographic, we do urgently need to examine the way our
care services are organised and funded.”
We will certainly hear more about the ‘Age Crunch’ in the
coming years. Rather than seeing it as a burden, we could try to embrace the
population shift as an opportunity for positive change for everyone.
(This article was published in the London Student)
