As longer life expectancy brings about substantial changes in the make-up of American society, Americans are still grappling with the implications of longer life on how we work, live and learn, according to a poll fielded by the Longevity Project, a new initiative developed in collaboration with the Stanford Center on Longevity (SCL).

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The mission of the Longevity Project is to generate research and foster public dialogue on the far-reaching impact of increased longevity. Some key results of the Longevity Project – Morning Consult poll include: By 2034, Americans over the age of 65 will outnumber children under 18 for the first time in history – a change more frequently viewed as a negative outcome than a positive one.

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And as people over the age of 55 are poised to become the largest segment of the U.S. workforce, nearly a quarter (23%) of Americans think the retirement age should be lowered to make room for younger workers.

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“With Americans living longer and healthier, we have a unique opportunity to reimagine healthy, successful century long lives,” said Laura Carstensen, Professor of Psychology at Stanford and the founding director of SCL. “But we can’t achieve what we can’t imagine, and we are pleased to help launch this initiative to foster public understanding and engagement on longevity.”

Through research, conferences and events at Stanford and around the country, the Longevity Project will engage with government and business leaders on the policies and methods for supporting longer life.

Conferences will include the Century Summit and Longevity Next, the first longevity conference focused on engaging millennials and Generation X about the implications of longer life.

“We are proud to work with a growing coalition of organizations including the Stanford Center on Longevity, the Urban Institute, Morning Consult, the National Academy of Medicine, and a group of forward thinking companies comprised of Principal Financial Group, Wells Fargo, and Instructure to launch this important initiative, said Ken Stern, co-chair of the Longevity Project.”

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