The world is undergoing an unprecedented demographic transition.
Between now and 2050 every country will experience an increase in its average age and a rise in the proportion of older people. This issue has been well covered by a focus on an aging society.
However, something else is also happening. As well as there being more old people, how we are aging is changing. On average both life expectancy and healthy life expectancy are increasing. This creates a longevity agenda and the need for individuals and societies to create a “new map of life.”
We need a New Map of Life™ to seize the opportunities at all ages that longer healthier lives bring. It is also needed to ensure that as many people as possible live longer, healthier and fulfilled lives. With ever larger numbers of older people, the longevity agenda is crucial to minimize the costs of an aging society. Above all, the longevity agenda should help turn one of the greatest achievements of the last 100 years – global increases in healthy life expectancy – into a positive outcome for us all.
The need to do something is urgent – support is needed for the current old, but also to help those who are just being born structure their lives differently. It is also a global agenda – every country is embarking on this process even though they may start at very different positions.
Meeting at Rockefeller Bellagio Center
To investigate this longevity agenda, a group of experts was convened at the Rockefeller Bellagio Center in Bellagio, Italy in late September of 2019. The event was organized by the Stanford Center on Longevity and The Longevity Forum with the generous support of the Rockefeller Foundation and Prudential Assurance Company Singapore. Led by Professor Laura Carstensen of Stanford University and Professor Andrew Scott of London Business School, the meeting bought together experts from across the world – covering Africa, Australia, China, Europe, India, Japan, Mexico, Singapore and US – and across disciplines – health experts, gerontologists, paediatricians, economists, educators, finance experts and investors – the meeting started to define what a global longevity agenda would look like.
The main objectives of the meeting were:
- Investigate this longevity agenda, define its distinctive needs, and understand how these vary across countries.
- Identify measures governments around the world can take to meet these needs.
- Start to define what a global longevity agenda would look like.
To learn more about the meeting and participants, visit the meeting website.
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In collaboration with:
The New Map of Life: Six Principles to Guide Long Lived Societies
- New roles and opportunities must be created so that people experience purpose, belonging, and worth at all stages of life
- Education is a lifelong pursuit
- Working longer will occur in multigenerational contexts
- Money. Opportunities to earn and save must be available throughout life to ensure financial security
- Advances in the science of aging must be distributed broadly in the population
- Physical health and the prevention of disease is critical to achieving the promise of longevity
Resources
“A Longevity Agenda for Singapore”
Hosted at a November launch meeting by Prudential Singapore, the global longevity principles and agenda discussed by the experts at the Bellagio meeting are introduced in the context of “A Longevity Agenda for Singapore.” Read
“A Global Agenda for a New Map of Life”
White Paper prepared for the Bellagio Global Longevity Agenda Meeting Read
The New Map of Life™ initiative is made possible with the generous support of the Annenberg Foundation.
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Ageing is not the same as it used to be. We are extending life for more healthy years not just birthday candles. The goal is a long #healthspan #agingwell #ageing #healthyaging pic.twitter.com/yowCorHrXh
