Across much of the world, life expectancy is on the rise, and while this represents a tremendous achievement in science and healthcare, it also presents a significant challenge for societies as populations not only age, but for whom older people represent an ever growing proportion of society.
I’ve written previously about the challenges of an ageing society, with people such as London Business School’s Lynda Gratton and Airbnb’s Chip Conley among the foremost thinkers on the topic. An ageing society not only presents obvious challenges in terms of healthcare and retirement, but also in the workplace as baby boomers begin to leave the workforce in large numbers, taking valuable expertise with them.
A new report from the UK’s Government Office for Science adds its considerable expertise to the debate. The report revolves around 22 peer-reviewed evidence reviews and expert meetings that aimed to debate everything from health and care to housing.
“As the population ages, so will the UK workforce. The productivity and economic success of the UK will be increasingly tied to that of older workers,” the authors explain. “Enabling people to work for longer will help society to support growing numbers of dependents, while providing individuals with the financial and mental resources needed for increasingly long retirements.”
The changing nature of work
The report highlights how the proportion of the working age population aged between 50 and the state pension age will grow from an already significant 26% in 2012 to 34% by 2050, which represents a growth of some 5.5 million people. As a result, the economic fortunes of the UK will increasingly be dependent upon this older workforce.
It’s vital therefore that not only is this demographic encouraged to stay in work for longer, but they are also given the support to spend longer periods in retirement than ever before. The authors urge policy makers to examine the factors that underpin significant variation in the employment rate of older people across the population as a whole. They also urge employers to change their attitude towards older people, with people like Chip Conley leading the way with their championing of ‘modern elders’.
It’s also vital however that people are encouraged to update their skills throughout their lifetime so that they remain employable as the world adapts to new technologies and business models.
“As working lives lengthen, and the workplace undergoes major changes, job-related training will become almost as important to people in mid-life as at the beginning of their career,” the authors explain. “This will require the UK to move towards a model where training and re-skilling opportunities are available throughout people’s careers.”
The value of lifelong learning
Of course, lifelong learning does not only boost our employability, but also has numerous benefits in terms of our mental capital, which has been shown to boost individual resilience later in our lives. Learning has also been shown to improve our physical and mental wellbeing, which helps to reduce the burden we place on both our families and social services. Despite the numerous benefits of lifelong learning however, the report reveals that a depressing 40% of 55-64 year olds have undertaken no formal training or education since they left school over 30 years ago.
The authors urge both policy makers, employers and education providers to address the falling participation in rates in lifelong education and training, with older workers much less likely to be offered training opportunities in the workplace than their younger peers. What’s more, there are significant differences across socio-economic groups, genders and ethnicities.
Central to this shift is moving away from the three-stage life that has dominated for much of the industrial era, which sees people study when young, then work before retiring. It’s a model that Lynda Gratton suggests is ripe for change, but with education incredibly expensive, educating multiple times throughout one’s life is likely to be prohibitive, while the authors also cite various attitudinal barriers and a lack of time as challenges to overcome if people are to regularly update their skills and knowledge.
The authors believe that a particular focus should be given to developing both financial and technological skills, with financial skills helping people to plan more effectively, especially for retirement, whereas digital and technological skills help to retain one’s employability as the labor market adapts to new and emerging technologies.
Connectivity
Technical skills also play a big part in ensuring people are able to access services and determine our work, education and health outcomes as we age. The ability to utilize new technologies and digital tools increasingly affect our capability to interact with the world around us. Not only do skills barriers exist however, but the report also highlights how challenging it can be to encourage older people of the merits and usefulness of new technologies, not to mention their affordability.
The report presents a generally positive perspective on our ageing society, but do nonetheless highlight a number of challenges that must be overcome if we are to achieve an ageing premium rather than an ageing curse. It’s an issue that is likely to effect most policy areas, and they urge all stakeholders to work together so that a co-ordinated response can be achieved.
Such interventions should not be constrained purely to those in the older demographic at the moment, with the most effective interventions likely to begin at an early age. For instance, it’s vital that young people begin adequate retirement planning as early as possible, while encouraging employers of the merits of older workers is a challenge that all age groups need to tackle head on.
“Advances in medical and social science have extended UK lifespan at a time when fertility rates have been falling. Much has already been done to help position the UK to manage the ensuing future challenges of an ageing population,” the authors conclude. “Now, we have the opportunity to capitalise on this work, and live happier, healthier and more prosperous longer lives.”
Just as organizations increasingly live and die by the talent at their disposal, so too do nations thrive by their ability to get the best from their human capital. As populations across the world age, it is increasingly important that we learn to capitalize on the rare gifts older people possess. Time will tell just how successful nations prove to be in doing so.
