Ageing well is something we all aspire towards. Who wouldn’t want to remain fit and well into their 60s and beyond – whether retired or still enjoying a career? But this isn’t always a given, there are unhelpful stereotypes to overcome, and often caring responsibilities attached to people of a certain age.
While we cannot avoid ageing, the good news is that we can take some control over how well we age. In this article we dispel the myths, explore the stats around the ageing workforce and offer some suggestions for employers to support this often highly productive and reliable group.
Dispelling the stereotypes of age
Society tends to package all older people, let’s say those approaching and over 60, together as if they are one group with one set of definable needs. This tendency grows as age increases. By the time people are in their seventies they are being referred to as “beginning to show signs of slowing down”; and by eighty probably as “ancient”. In our nineties, of course, and the noughties we become more revered, seen as remarkable and asked to share our secret of long-life.
All people over 60 are different to each other, just as all people under 60 are. We do not change, and our diverse needs, expectations, aspirations should be respected. The first lesson of ageing well is to avoid becoming stereotyped, maintain as much as possible not only our independence, but more critically our individuality and our right to make our own decisions and live our own lives.
Some will want to create ‘bucket-lists’ of daring adventures, visits to far-flung destinations, embark on learning new skills, continue to work, take up new friendships, and an almost relentless drive for physical activity. That’s great if this is what you want, and you have the resources and wellness required. Exercise your rights, maintain your individuality.
Others will want to sit on a bench watching the world go by, spend time with nearest and dearest, gently walk, never talk of work again, get up late in the mornings, potter in the garden, watch daytime TV, and generally switch off. Equally important to recognise that if this is the life choice you want to make as you age then you should be absolutely free to do so.
Perhaps the greatest myth we perpetuate is that old age is an unproductive and miserable time of life. For some, sadly, this may be the case, but the figures show that for many being older is a period of greater happiness especially for the first decade or so.
A survey[1] of more than 300,000 adults across the UK showed that between the ages of sixty-five and seventy-nine is the happiest age group for adults. Life satisfaction, happiness and feeling life was worthwhile all peaked in that age bracket but declined in the over-80s.
Those aged 45 to 59 reported the lowest levels of life satisfaction, with men on average less satisfied than women. That age group also reported the highest levels of anxiety.
Finding your own way to ageing
There is no route map, no preferred option, no template to follow. Find your own way in your own time. You can make the choice to “grow old gracefully” or indeed to “grow old disgracefully” so long as what you are doing does no harm to others! The poet Dylan Thomas encourages us as we age to continue to “rage” with our passions:
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Ageing well doesn’t have to mean losing all that energy and passion. That may well appeal to you. Contentment is another useful concept for us to explore in retirement. There may not be the same highs and lows, or the pursuit of happiness. There may be a sense of peace and of calm, a serenity that comes from the maturity of life-experience and of feeling “my work is done”. This is not a “great resignation”, nor a giving in, but rather a sense of coming to something peacefully finished.
However you approach ageing and retirement, it’s very much a personal and individual choice. Yet sadly, there are many who are not in that position to make their own choices as they age. Economic circumstances, physical health, family relationships, mental health may all limit freedoms and choices.
Longer lifespans – and working lives
One of the major achievements of modern science and healthcare is that life expectancy is projected to grow over the next few decades and by 2071 the number of adults over 65 could be over 20 million and those over 80 could more than treble to over 9 million. In parallel, largely due to the demographic age-shift, our perception of what ‘old age’ looks like will change and the notions of ‘career’ and ‘retirement’ will shift in response to longer working lives.
On a global scale, 2 in 5 people will be 65 and over by 2050, from 1 in 4 in 2018. As the world’s population is projected to reach 9.9 billion in 2050, about 21% (2.1 billion) will be over 60 years.
There are many important factors that will affect society over the next 20 years and beyond. Some of these will make significant demands on our health and social systems, one of these is the ageing population. It is acknowledged that without substantial improvement in health, UK population ageing will increase the amount of ill-health and disability. Chronic conditions, multi-morbidities and cognitive impairments will become more common. At the same time families will face increasing pressure to balance care with other responsibilities, particularly work. The so-called ‘sandwich generation’, those facing multiple caring responsibilities, are rising due to longer life spans and people starting families later. Those aged between 35-64 are more likely to be carers and in the UK, c.60% of informal carers are women.[2]
What is likely to happen, whether from personal choice or forced circumstance, is that more older people will wish to remain economically active in the workplace either in full-time or part-time employment. From an Occupational Health perspective, employers need to be far more forward thinking on the opportunities and challenges this raises.
We therefore must tackle this through the prism of ageism and dispel some of the myths that have created the unhelpful prejudice around older workers.
The ageing workforce – challenges and positives
According to the Centre for Ageing Better[3] before the pandemic almost 1 in 3 workers in the UK was aged 50 and over. But the over 50s have been among the hardest hit during the pandemic and since March 2020, there are 175,000 50-64 year olds now out of work and recent data from Rest Less[4] the digital community for the over 50s, suggests that people aged over 50 who lose their jobs are twice as likely to be unemployed for at least two years which can mean that older workers are forced into an early retirement they may not want or can afford.
On positive side, older workers contribute greatly to potential productivity in the UK workforce.
- Older workers take fewer short-term sick days than younger workers
- Older workers cost less – they tend to stay in their job roles longer than younger colleagues reducing costs associated with turnover, recruitment, and training
- A multi-generational workforce is more productive and more innovative
- Older workers are more likely to be self-employed and often successful entrepreneurs. In 2021 17% of workers aged 50-64 were self-employed compared to 13% in 35-49 age group.
- Older workers are digitally savvy – one of the positive outcomes from lockdown was the increase in use of technology across all ages.
Employer’s obligations
That said, employers will need to recognise:
- That they have a duty of care to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all people in their workforce.
- That sometimes, not always, adjustments to working conditions or working hours will be needed and legally must be made
- That managing older people in the workplace may mean additional training for line-managers and supervisors who may well be considerably younger and less experienced
- The opportunity to utilise to the full the experience older people may bring to their organisation including their ability to pass on knowledge and to provide peer mentoring support
- To celebrate a multi-generational workforce and the diversity it brings
In conclusion
We must dispel myths, avoid stereotypes, cease making assumptions and setting limits, whether we are employers or older workers. We learn from each other by respecting difference, acknowledging individuality, understanding new needs and new offerings that can be made.
Managing how we age is a complicated matter, but make your own choice on how to live well, work well and age well. Exercise your rights, maintain your individuality, keep mentally and physically active as much as you can and above all, do it your way.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35471624
[2] Aon UK Benefits & Trends Survey 2021
