Concerns about ageing society ignore huge opportunities, says population expert

"Concerns over an ageing population are overblown and society should learn to celebrate and capitalise on its massive cohort of healthy, active, older, creative adults, a leading population expert has said. While pundits and pressure groups have raised concerns over falling fertility rates, highlighting the challenges for the economy and healthcare, others are more upbeat, arguing the rise of the silver economy brings new opportunities for growth."

"This is a success in so much as every baby that is born will have the opportunity or should have the opportunity to be highly educated, healthy and live a long, healthy life. While acknowledging there would be people living into their 80s and 90s who would become frail and need care, Harper said the main opportunity was to capitalise on the increasing health and education of older adults, especially those aged 50 to 70."

"There are some challenges [to an ageing population], but there are also huge opportunities and rather than try and resist it, or stop it, or divert it we should be looking for those opportunities, because we have this massive cohort of healthy, active, older, creative adults. And because we're still stuck in 20th-century institutions that don't appreciate them and benefit from them, we need to create new ways of living and working that enable us to take advantage of that massive group of adults."

Two-thirds of the world's countries already have fertility rates below the replacement level, making population ageing inevitable. Ageing brings positives because each child born can expect higher education, better health and longer life. A large cohort of healthy, active older adults aged roughly 50–70 represents economic and creative potential. Some people will become frail in their 80s and 90s and will need care. Capitalising on older adults requires adapting institutions, expanding retraining and flexible working, and addressing health and education inequalities so all older adults can participate in the silver economy.

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