Longevity changes everything 

Longer lives present one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century, as well as one of the greatest opportunities. To fully reap the gift of longevity and the real possibility of living well to the age of 100 and beyond, transformative change is needed from early to late life.

Investments in science and technology are essential. Just as essential are investments in novel societal supports, policies, and norms that will enable people to optimize century-long lives.  New models of education will be required, including but extending beyond traditional formal education. The concept of “work” and “retirement” must be redefined. The nature of family will include multiple generations. We need to promote practices that keep people healthy and socially engaged and we need new policies for health care and financial security.  A re-design of where we live, work, and travel is required and we need to conceive of ways that people can best accommodate the rapid increases in the speed of new technology transfers.

Importantly, these supports, products, and services must have wide reach in the population so that the majority of people reach advanced ages physically fit, mentally sharp, and financially secure.

Why do we need a new map of life?
Demographic changes alone demand attention. World population, currently 7.6 billion, is projected to reach 8.6 billion by 2030 and 9.8 billion in 2050.¹

California population will be 51 million, an increase from the current 39 million. The three stage linear model of life – education then work followed by retirement – won’t hold. The new life course will need to be flexible and have multi-stages with a variety of careers and transitions. Fluid life patterns will emerge as longevity promotes a redefinition of time.

Seismic societal changes will be needed to the underpinning structures in areas such as education and learning, health, employment, housing, socioeconomic policies. And these changes must be addressed through the sociological lens of diversity and inclusion, ethnicity, the family and intergenerational relations.

How do we start the conversation?
The premise of this project is that we cannot achieve what we cannot envision. The complexity of the change we need must not be underestimated. We need to collaborate in a more networked, inter-disciplinary way to have the greatest impact and identify solutions.  What tools, models and frameworks do we need to transform communities, states and countries to benefit from longevity? How do we create a mindset for the New Map of Life?™

Questions we will ask: 

Narrative change: How do we rid chronological age from the life script, removing age stereotypes and benchmarking by age? How do we create a new narrative, imagery and language that values people at different stages of life – moving away from current obsolete language?

Education and learning: What are the needs for life-long learning? What is the role of intergenerational learning? How do we re-design education so that longevity is on the curriculum? How do we give children the skills to survive in an age of rapid knowledge transfer and equip them for a new world of work? 

Economy/financial policy: What is a productive long life? What new models do we need to finance the longer life? What is the role of universal income? How can people best build financial assets? How do we bridge the income divide – poorer people have lower life expectancy. 

Communities: What do longevity-friendly communities look like and how do we pursue the development of livable cities and aging in place? What is the role of libraries? Is there a place for more innovative social entrepreneurship? Value of supporting intergenerational relationships and programs. What do we expect for civic engagement? 

Media: What roles can news media, journalists and writers, advertising and entertainment industries play in helping the redefinition of life course and rethink images of aging? What campaigns are needed to stimulate public dialogue? 

Work: How do we re-think work and changes in HR policies and practices? How do employers respond to the demands of an age diverse workforce? What are the new norms for using talents of older people? How is retirement re-cast and the role of encore careers developed? How is voluntary work valued and promoted? Where are the skills shortages? 

Health: How can research inform and stimulate personal health choices that enhance 100 year lives? How can we develop personal resilience – plasticity, adaptability, flexibility, willingness to engage with the new lifespan? How to harness the benefits of the health and wellness revolution – medicine, genomics and technology? 

Business: How to develop products and services which are relevant across the full life span? 

Legislation and policy: How to support fluid life patterns which are not bounded by age prescribed in legislation? If the timing of key life milestones (start of work, marriage, home ownership, starting families) are changing and eroding, do policies need to reflect the new milestones? 

An interdisciplinary collaboration: our goals
The Stanford Center on Longevity (SCL)  together with the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy and Research (SIEPR) and the Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences (PHS) started the conversation by convening a small group of experts at Stanford on September 20 and 21, 2018. The participants are distinguished scholars and leaders in their fields of education, health and public policy, government, economy, finance and social policy, science, technology, work and employment, housing and communities, transport, media and advocacy, corporate and financial services, philanthropy and not for profit sectors.

To our knowledge, this is the first time an interdisciplinary group of high level policy experts, researchers, and stakeholders has convened to envision an ideal century long life. The aim was to address key questions that lead to consensus-building and concrete next steps for future action. Our goal is to create a template for developing a “New Map of Life” that could be used by other countries, regions or communities to make a map relevant to the dynamics of their population.

The meeting tested the value and effectiveness of the forum, methodology and discussion template in order for the SCL, SIEPR and PHS to support further research and policy development that will lay the groundwork for a global campaign advocating a solutions-oriented, and opportunity-driven, approach to longer lives. 

¹ UN figures June 2017