What if population ageing is not the challenge we think it is?
What if the real challenge is whether our societies are prepared for longer lives?
Having spent much of my career working on inequality and social justice, I have increasingly come to see population ageing as one of the defining issues of our time. Not because it only affects older people, but because it affects all of us.
Across the world, people are living longer than previous generations could ever have imagined. This is one of humanity’s greatest achievements. These questions will be at the heart of the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Population Ageing in Hangzhou this October, where governments, civil society, researchers and international organisations will come together to explore how societies can respond to demographic change and harness the opportunities that come with longer lives.
Yet too often, we still talk about ageing as though it is somebody else’s issue. Ageing is not simply about pensions, health systems or social care. It is reshaping how we work, how we care for one another, how our economies function and how communities hold together.
Increasingly, people are framing this conversation through the lens of longevity rather than ageing. There is much to welcome in that shift. It encourages us to focus on opportunity, contribution and the possibilities that come with longer lives. But we must also ask who benefits from those gains, who is being left behind, and how we ensure that longer lives are accompanied by dignity, security and inclusion.
As we prepare for the conference, four questions are particularly on my mind.
