‘We Need to Think About Aging Very Differently’
“We’ve got to change how we age.”
That’s a statement made by economist and author Andrew J. Scott in a recent interview with McKinsey & Company. In our current age of longevity, of course he is correct.
Coverage of longevity and the longevity economy too often frames it as a looming disaster. The focus is on increased care burdens, rising health care costs, more loneliness and more loss. But Andrew excels at revealing the many opportunities that longevity presents.
He talks about the economic opportunity in serving older adults 𝗮𝗻𝗱 in serving those in their 30s, 40s and 50s who are realizing they probably have a lot more life to live. And he talks about the economic opportunities presented to employers in the form of older workers.
“We need to think about aging very differently,” he says in the interview. “The ultimate point here is that we’ve got to change how we age so we don’t outlive our health, our wealth, our finances, our skills, our relationships. If we’re going to change how we age, then at whatever your age, you should be behaving differently from past generations.”
It’s so important to highlight these opportunities and call for change, because we’re in uncharted territory. We live in a society that is built for people to retire in their 60s and die five or 10 years later. We haven’t adjusted to the reality that many (but not all) people are living much longer.
If we follow the prescriptions made by experts like Andrew, we can do more than add years to people’s lives — we can put more life into those added years. If we do it right, we can harness the longevity economy and, in the end, reap a longevity dividend.
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(I should also mention how good it is to see McKinsey, which serves as a platform for idea dissemination in the global business community, amplifying Andrew’s thoughts and recognizing the power of healthy longevity. Obviously they recognize the importance of this issue.)
Bob Kramer is broadly recognized as one of senior living’s most influential and high-profile thought leaders and connectors. With over 40 years of industry leadership, he has earned the reputation of “agent provocateur” in the seniors housing and care industry and aging services field. He has been described as an ice-cutter and scout in identifying industries and trends that will disrupt the future of seniors housing, aging services, and aging more broadly.
