November 2024

Why older adults are especially vulnerable to climate change

When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, people ages 60 and older accounted for 75% of the deaths. During the Pacific Northwest heat wave of 2021, most of the nearly one thousand who died were older adults. People over age 65 accounted for three-quarters of the deaths in Washington state; in Oregon’s Multnomah County, the average age of the dead was 70. In the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century — at Lahaina, Hawaii, in 2023 — more than two-thirds of the...

October 2024

The U.K.’s fertility rate is at its lowest level in 90 years, far below the ‘replacement rate.’

A brewing demographic crisis in the U.K. might add another layer of complication to the country’s ebbing productivity rates, which the Labour government hopes it can tackle. Parts of the U.K. are seeing their lowest birth rates in about 90 years, or since World War II. With a productivity crisis looming large, a stubbornly low number of births could mean more problems for the U.K. than just an aging population. England and Wales are seeing fertility rates plummet to 1.44 children...

Aging demographics push South Korea’s insurance market to $191 billion

As South Korea's population ages rapidly, the demand for health and retirement-focused insurance products is forecasted to drive steady growth in the nation’s insurance market. According to a recent GlobalData report, South Korea's insurance sector is expected to expand from KRW 218.3 trillion (US$167.1 billion) in 2025 to KRW 249.7 trillion (US$191.2 billion) by 2029, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.4%. “The South Korean insurance industry contracted by 7.5% in 2023 due to slower economic growth, which impacted...

Well-Being of Older People in East Asia: The People’s Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea

By Hidehiko Ichimura, Xiaoyan Lei, Chulhee Lee, Jinkook Lee, Albert Park, & Yasuyuki Sawada East Asia is undergoing a rapid demographic transition and “super” aging. As a result of steadily decreasing fertility and increasing life expectancy, older people’s proportion of the population and the old-age dependency ratio is rising across all countries in East Asia, particularly in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK). In this paper, we empirically investigate the well-being of older...

What a Rapidly Aging World Population Means for Your Long-Term Portfolio

Global demographics are undergoing a profound transformation. As life expectancies grow and birth rates decline in many parts of the world, the proportion of the elderly population is increasing at an unprecedented rate. The World Health Organization (WHO) forecasts that by 2030, 1 in 6 people in the world will be aged 60 years or over. In 2030, the share of the global population aged 60 years and over will have increased from 1 billion in 2020 to 1.4 billion...

Life expectancy may be reaching upper limits—for now

By William Mair     A paper published in Nature Aging earlier this month concluded that it’s unlikely that we will see significant leaps in human life expectancy this century. William Mair, professor of molecular metabolism at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, shares what researchers know about the biology of aging, the importance of improving health span, and the need to take moonshots. Q: What did the study find and what conclusions can we draw from it? A: The study looks back at advances in...

The problem of aging is intensifying in Korean rural areas. In particular, in the case of rice farme.

71.1% of rice farmers aged 65 or older majority of people in their 70s and older Rice consumption per person has decreased by 14.8 kg over 12 years. The problem of aging is intensifying in Korean rural areas. In particular, in the case of rice farmers, more than 70% of elderly farmers aged 65 or older were found. According to the "Rice Consumption Trend Analysis" published by the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation on the 21st, the proportion of farmers aged 65...

Can’t wait to give up work? Why some people are not the retiring type

Ageing populations require a shake up of our pension systems, but fair and effective changes require an understanding of older workers. Across Europe, raising pension ages is a necessary - yet incendiary - conversation. As life expectancies increase, so does the ratio of pensioners to workers, ultimately resulting in mounting pressure on state budgets. In countries where retirement reforms have sparked controversy, one argument continues to resurface. Raising the state pension age, many argue, can't be a 'one-size fits-all' approach. Due to disparities...

In France, senior citizens are (almost) king

It was highly symbolic. In the space of a few days, France went from having the youngest prime minister of the Fifth Republic, 35-year-old Gabriel Attal, to the oldest, Michel Barnier, 73. Beyond the political context, this change carries a particular significance at a time when the country is quietly going through a profound transformation: It is aging – and quickly. To prove the point, centenarians, rare 30 years ago, are now almost commonplace: There are around 30,000 of...