No. We Are Not Needy. Or Greedy.

By Karen and Erica

Have you heard about the Dutchman who sued to have himself declared 20 years younger? His argument was that he had the body of a younger man, and if he could become the age of his body he would have better opportunities to get a job or a date. He lost, but his experiment triggered an interesting article by the World Economic Forum on what it calls Extra Time.

You already know about Extra Time—it is the third demographic dividend about which we have written—the extra thirty years or so of life many of us will have as compared to people who lived a couple of centuries ago. The significance of this extra time cannot be overstated—but it can be misunderstood. It should be seen as a very exciting gift—but many regard it with fear. Seeing only a downside based on life in the Middle Ages, many think as the world ages everyone will be weighed down by decrepit old people and their endless needs.

Remarkably, many of our default policy assumptions are that this added stage of life is a drag in every sense of the word, with older people gobbling up disproportionate shares of our public and economic resources at the expense of younger generations. Policymakers across the globe worry about the ‘old-age dependency ratio,’ that balance between people of working age who pay taxes and those who are past retirement age who are ‘dependent’ on society and withdrawing resources from the public till.

This concern has no foundation in the twenty-first century. One reason we have this extra time is because of enormous public health investments made around the world in the last century. Though there are huge imbalances in the allocation of these benefits, and the pandemic has changed the trajectory, because of these advances most of us will be fit and energetic our entire lives. It is a gift to be savored.

Most of us also want to continue to be part of society, to have purpose, and to contribute. If we are treated as sentient and productive human beings, we will give much more than we will take.

If we build the programs that transform the human capital of older adults into high-impact social capital, in programs that are win-wins for the volunteers and society, and invest in taking them to scale, we will have a third demographic dividend that endures. In that dividend, older adults will have roles that enable them to be stewards of a better present and of our future and to leave their legacy. These missions are ones that older adults are particularly well suited to take on and provide key elements for success.

So we have a choice. Make use of the many and varied talents of older people, and increase societal value of all kinds, or treat older people as useless and reduce societal value of all kinds, Policies based on fear stemming from false assumptions about age will be very costly—and not just to us. If we are sent out to pasture for thirty years, and treated as if we are potted plants who have no role in society, we will become needy and greedy, and it will cost everyone.

Despite the billions of dollars spent convincing us that our “golden years” should involve travel, golf, and sitting around the pool, research actually shows that people who stop working and retire often suffer from depression, heart attacks, and a general malaise of not having as much purpose in their lives.

Let’s not go there. Let’s make the smart choice, and propound policies based on the actual data. As has been observed many times, the younger run faster but the older know the shortcuts. We are happy to share what we know. We have many valuable attributes—experience, tested judgment, knowledge—that get better with age. And if you let us remain productive, we will not use more resources than we provide. Rather the opposite. The pie will get bigger.

A win-win for all of us.