Redefining retirement

The definition of what counts as “old age” has changed, but retirement hasn’t. A new approach to work will ensure we adapt to a future in which many of us can expect to live longer— and more fulfilling—lives

by CAMILLA CAVENDISH

The news that the UK’s fertility rate has hit the lowest level since records began has prompted dire predictions of a “silver tsunami” of elderly people engulfing hospitals and crippling the economy. This same panic surfaces every few years: the latest trigger being the failure of the pandemic to lead to a baby boom, despite couples being thrown together more than usual. Familiarity breeds contempt, it seems, rather than babies.

The ageing of the world is one of the biggest stories of our time. Not only are we living longer, but that trend is accelerated by what I call the death of birth: plummeting birth rates in almost every country outside sub-Saharan Africa. With more adults aged 65 and over on the planet than children aged five and under, we are going to have to rethink work, welfare, and the meaning of family. For who will care for us when we are very old, if we don’t have children?

I’m pretty optimistic that we can find answers, having interviewed people in eight different countries who are redefining what it means to be 60, 70, even 80. If we continue to assume that everyone is “past it” at 60, stuck in their ways and ripe for retirement, the outlook is grim.

Public figures like Joe Biden have shown the rest of us that what counts as “old age” has changed

© PA IMAGES / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

But if we keep populations healthy, reskill people throughout life, and radically change the arc of our careers, we could usher in a renaissance. It’s notable that two of the most influential figures at the Glasgow climate summit in November—Joe Biden and David Attenborough—are members of the “silent” generation born between 1925 and 1945. That’s the generation above the baby boomers, who themselves aren’t so old any more.

There is a burning platform. China is experiencing the “4-2-1 problem” of single children having to support two parents and four grandparents. In the hope of holding this social contract together, the Chinese government has passed a law to force children to visit elderly relatives. In Japan, the population is both ageing and shrinking. At a private lunch in Tokyo a few years ago, I was startled by an economist who argued passionately that Japan must increase immigration or, he warned, “we will see our nation vanish.” The politician at the table responded, impassively, that voters would never agree. He and the other experts spoke instead of improving women’s participation, and using robots to fill labour shortages.