A new international report launched ahead of the G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting by the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC-UK), the UK’s specialist think tank on the impact of longevity on society, today, unveils the significant, and growing, economic contributions of older people across the G20:
In 2014, workers aged 50 and over earned every third dollar in the G20 economy. By 2035, older workers are projected to generate nearly 40% of all earnings across the G20.
In 2015, spending by older households in the G20 averaged 22% of GDP, amounting to almost USD 10 trillion, more than the combined GDP of Japan, Australia, Canada and Brazil.
The average unpaid contributions of older people across the EU and Turkey could be worth as much as 1.4% of GDP.
The report argues that leveraging the economic contributions of older people will be instrumental in the global post-pandemic recovery, and that addressing health barriers to spending, working, caring and volunteering for longer can unlock a significant ‘longevity dividend’.
Indeed, ILC-UK’s analysis finds that countries that spend more on health as a proportion of GDP see higher employment participation, volunteering, and spending by older people.
Furthermore, increasing preventative health spending by just 0.1 percentage points is associated with a 9% increase in annual spending by people aged 60 and over, and 10 additional hours of volunteering.
Finally, ILC-UK predicts that if G20 countries enabled older people to work at the same rates as seen in Iceland, they could see an overall GDP gain of USD 3.7 trillion – around 7% of GDP on average.
To maximise the economic contributions of older people in the post-pandemic recovery and beyond, ILC-UK is calling on G2o Governments to deliver an Ageing Society New Deal that sees countries investing more in preventative health, supporting older workers and reducing avoidable barriers to spending.
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