Longevity economy

Embracing the elderly alongside younger generations could combat what economic doomsayers call a “demographic time bomb”.

Societal ageing has generally been considered detrimental to a country’s economic health, since it reduces the workforce and increases burdens on healthcare systems. But with a rapid increase in health-span over the past few decades, how do we embrace the changing economics of ageing?

The idea of “oldness” stifles business thinking, says Dr Joseph Couglin, founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab. He argues that oldness is a social construct that’s at odds with how we realistically live after middle age. That is, people are still plenty capable – and want to be involved – when they hit old age.

Coughlin, author of Longevity Economy: Unlocking the World’s Fastest-Growing, Most Misunderstood Market, says businesses need to serve what older people actually want – not what conventional wisdom suggests they need. The economy can actually benefit from people’s longevity if we are able to rethink the ways in which businesses target younger generations.

As life expectancies increase, so grows a group of consumers, workers and innovators – and they are getting wealthier by the day. Calendar years will no longer become an objective indicator of age, and are instead creating the space for a new life-stage to emerge.

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Image credit: Piero Zagami and Michela Nicchiotti.