How aging populations can save us

The presence of millions of older citizens could improve the world, writes Laura Carstensen

For the first time ever, a growing resource populates the world – millions of mature people. They are better educated and healthier than prior generations of older people, motivated to make a difference and fit to do so. Yet the key challenge in the early 21st century is to build an infrastructure that taps this resource for the good of society.

Most people worry about their aging minds as much (or even more) than their aging bodies. Such fears are not unfounded. However, there are also gains. Besides, social norms are likely a bigger issue than the physical and mental changes that come with age.

For most of that 30-year stretch we label “old age”, most people in the US and the developed world function very well. They live in their homes and participate in family and community life. They increasingly work, if often part-time. Though there are problems with old age, and the last year or so of life is pretty bleak for many people, that bleakness characterizes the end of life, not old age per se.

Overall, absent significant brain disease, the gains that come with age can functionally offset the declines that typically occur. They present us with an upside; a resource never before available in human history: tens of millions of older people who are knowledgeable about practical matters of life, who have reared and launched their children and who care increasingly about investing their time in things that really matter.

Through most of human evolution, life was barely long enough to ensure survival of the species. “Nasty, brutish and short,” is how the 17^th century British philosopher Thomas Hobbes described life. Even by, a quarter of babies died before they reached the age of five. Of the babies who survived to 18 years, 20% were orphaned in the process.

Then, in a single century, we nearly doubled the length of the lives we live, adding almost 30 years to life expectancy. The increase was spurred by large-scale changes in medical science and agricultural technologies, leading to improved sanitation. Today, the majority of infants born in the developed world can expect to live to an old age. In coming years, families will routinely include four and five generations.

TWO VOICES IN THE PUBLIC DISCOURSE

In looking at societal aging, I often feel that there are two voices in the public discourse; the doomsayers and the romanticists. The doomsayers are the loudest, worrying that older citizens will break the bank, create intergenerational strife and leave children in the dust. The romanticists, on the other hand, equate aging with “sage-ing”. They depict older people as spending their days pondering life and seeking joy and peace.

The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. We should not lightly dismiss those forecasting doom. Growing old isn’t easy on bodies or minds. However, health declines associated with age are a relative issue. In the last 50 years, each birth cohort that has reached old age has been healthier than the one before. Today’s 90-year-olds are substantially healthier than those who reached 90 just a decade ago. If we take the long view, health in old age has improved profoundly in the last century.

Being 70 is not a sin. It’s not a joke either Golda Meir, fourth Israeli prime ministerMany older people today are doing very well, contributing to families, workplaces and younger generations. To the extent that these mature citizens are physically fit, mentally sharp and financially secure, societies will thrive.

Yet we look to culture to tell us when to get an education, when to marry, work, have children and retire. The culture that guides us through life today hasn’t adjusted to the length of the lives we are living.

Societies should find creative ways to maximally use older workers and volunteers. We might ask what sorts of societal needs can be best addressed by the well-engrained practical knowledge of older citizens. We have the opportunity to think of new ways to use new available strengths in a new type of citizen.

Instead of proclaiming older societies less productive and innovative, we will do well to begin building an infrastructure that taps into this unique source. The last thing we should be doing is asking older folks to go away and make room for the next generation. While human aging can bring scores of problems, from the physical to societal challenges such as funding retirement systems, populations where people live out their full lives offer unprecedented opportunities.

Aging, after all, comes with greater wisdom. Thus, although we must not let up on searches for cures for brain diseases, it is critical that we do not overlook the real talent available in a resource never before available in human societies – aging minds.

This article is an abridged version of Laura Carstensen’s contribution in The Upside of Aging, edited by Paul Irving

How aging populations can save us

The presence of millions of older citizens could improve the world, writes Laura Carstensen

How aging populations can save us

The presence of millions of older citizens could improve the world, writes Laura Carstensen

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