Seventy is Not the New Fifty. But It Sure Is New.

By Erica and Karen

Almost three in four women in the United States think that seventy is the new fifty. And almost two thirds of those women think retirement will be the most liberating time of their lives.

Men don’t seem to feel the same way.

Why would that be—especially as men are generally more financially secure than women once they reach retirement?

Recent research seems to suggest a variety of factors—many of which will resonate with our readers.

As a starting point, we will all live longer, and better, than before. Public health investments in the middle of the last century are very much to be credited with that advance. As a result, one group thinks that the age that now divides middle and old is 74. That’s progress. Not long ago that age was 55.

All of us have the benefits and burdens of these extra years of sentient life. (Burdens? Staying mentally and physically and financially fit. Losing partners and friends. Nothing in life is simple—but you know that.)

Why are women more excited?

First, women have spent much of their lives multitasking—working and running a household at the same time, saving little time for themselves. Indeed, the first half of their lives are a manic balancing act. Many men have not had to do that. They can devote themselves to their careers and have their wives deal with everything else. Is it any wonder that, after they retire, women are pretty excited to finally have some control over their time and what they do with it?

Second, women and men age differently, biologically speaking. Women are generally healthier than men—though that could change. The female metabolism may be more stable—though in certain unfortunate ways, like high blood pressure, women seem to be catching up to men. Women are also far more likely to succumb to Alzheimer’s, possibly as a consequence of their hormonal histories. But—many women see health as more desirable than wealth. Perhaps for that reason women are more likely to take care of their bodies than men—eating better and exercising more, likely leading to a more satisfying daily life as well as better health.

Sex is of course not the only determinant of healthy longevity. Unsurprisingly, wealthier people are healthier than those of lesser wealth, and the pandemic has certainly exposed racial disparities in every area of health. Perhaps less obviously, education seems to be associated with better cognitive function in older adults, even when controlling for other factors. Good news for women today, who are wealthier and better educated than ever.

So what does this all mean? We women who were educated and had careers are likely to have a better time aging than prior generations did. We have to plan ahead to care for ourselves for all of this extra time, but we are likely to live longer, and while we are alive we will be less old. So for us seventy is the new fifty—or better—in the health sense.

And maybe other people are starting to figure that out.

We live in a complex world in which physical strength—often male physical strength—is no longer the defining criterion for success. We live in a world where knowledge is key. Our experience becomes more valuable even as our bodies change. We think that younger people are starting to recognize that value, and to realize that putting people out to pasture at some arbitrary age—one determined decades ago in an entirely different world—makes no sense. That segregating people like us in isolated communities away from other human beings is counterproductive. And wasteful.

That would make the new seventy something really new. And something to celebrate, for sure.