Definition: A person’s longevity is ‘the rest of their life’.
Why ‘longevity’
Longevity is a holistic term covering the ‘time base for everything’ in a person’s life.
Most of the terms we associate with increasing lifespans have negative connotations. Consider ageing, retirement, age pension, aged care, age discrimination, home care, seniors, frailty, superannuation and end of life. While each has a specific relevance, a term to cover all of them frees us to envisage the whole framework – the good and the challenges - before focusing on the parts.
The definition starts with the person. We become more different from each other over time. Our own remaining time frame is unique. By just focusing on ‘community’ longevity, we lose sight of how different we are and how differently we respond.
A National Longevity Strategy will focus on maximising the social and financial benefits from:
- understanding and supporting individuals from midlife in making the best of the rest of their own life through raising their personal longevity awareness
- development of a longevity aware and proactive community
- harmonising the activities of government entities involved in longevity support
Where we are
At the end of 2021, there were 4.3 million Australians over the age of 65, about 16% of the population. The five-year cohorts over 65 are the fastest growing across the whole population, averaging 3.5% last year. No other cohort grew faster than 2.5%.
A huge longevity bonus accompanies this growth. Average life expectancies continue to increase. Half the oldest baby boomers alive today (75) are likely to live at least 30% beyond their life expectancy at birth and beyond 90.
However, the longevity bonus is petering out beyond 90, where successive cohorts are living less long than their predecessors. We face an increasing logjam of older Australians – most of whom will still live much longer than was expected when they were born but with more requiring support.
The crisis in aged care remains unresolved, creating major uncertainties in the older community about their future. The pension system encourages people to ‘retire’ at age 67 when at least half achieving this age will live close to their 90s, most independently. While community unemployment is reaching historically low levels, seniors’ employment is not increasing with the demographics.
Large sums are spent on research into better medical treatments for older Australians, yet very little on prevention. Health professionals struggle to reach beyond immediate patient issues to achieve effective preventive health and wellbeing support. The hospital system is fully stretched with little prospect of relief, even after the pandemic, as the ageing demographic grows.
Investment products and services are increasingly complex. Advisers are required to provide expensive and detailed assessments which are becoming even less accessible to many consumers. The Australian Law Reform Commission recently strongly criticised this trend.
Gender imbalance is a distinctive feature of increasing longevity. Women live longer and typically with longer dependency in later life. Women are usually the caregivers and outlive their partners, with less likelihood of personal care themselves. Women are less likely to accumulate superannuation, constrained by rearing children and fewer employment opportunities.
Ethnic inequalities are typified by the shorter total and healthy lifespans of these minorities. A National Longevity Strategy would clarify and provide consistent solutions to many of the challenges.
Consumer groups like COTA and National Seniors make a major contribution but need more support.
Where we could be
We face an increasing challenge of dealing with larger and less healthy numbers of people in their late 80s and early 90s. However, social and medical research is revealing how existing services, products and facilities could be much better harmonised to improve their delivery to the older demographic and reduce the cost.
Longevity research is moving very quickly to understand much more about ageing. It’s increasingly likely we will see real solutions to considerably extend lifespans and quality of life at greater ages. If this happens, it will change the paradigm of ageing on which current responses are based.
Both these opportunities require better oversight and major improvements in how well and how quickly we address increasing longevity in the community, and personally.
National Longevity Strategy
A National Longevity Strategy is urgently needed to effectively deal with the growing challenges and opportunities of increasing personal and community longevity, with bipartisan support.
Separate silos of interest (both in government and in the private sector) have grown strongly to deal with this phenomenon but can work together much more effectively. A National Longevity Strategy will harness all available capabilities and financial resources to make the most of the remarkable community and personal longevity bonus. It will underpin major savings.
To achieve this, the Strategy will draw on and provide oversight and guidance for the activities of:
- Treasury (demographics, superannuation, tax, financial advice)
- Social services (age pension, home equity release, disability)
- Employment (age discrimination, retraining)
- Health (including doctors, other health providers, health funds and researchers)
- Aged care
- The financial planning and legal professions
- Federal and State governments
- Superannuation funds and other financial product providers
A primary focus will be on improving longevity awareness of individuals from 60 years of age, along with improving the understanding and support of their health and financial advisers.
As a society, we are responsible for the remarkable longevity phenomenon. A National Longevity Strategy will focus Australians on making the best of it in every way.
David Williams is Founder and CEO of My Longevity. Try the SHAPE Analyser to focus on your own longevity.