The impact of an ageing world on our society and...

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www.llewellyn-consulting.com www.llewellyn-consulting.com Presentation to: LlewellynConsulting Independent Economics The impact of an ageing world on our society and economy Ben Combes 18 November 2014 Food Matters Live

Transcript of The impact of an ageing world on our society and...

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Presentation to: LlewellynConsultingIndependent Economics

www.llewellyn-consulting.com

Presentation to: LlewellynConsultingIndependent Economics

The impact of an ageing world on our society and economy

Ben Combes 18 November 2014

Food Matters Live

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The fundamentals of ageing

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Globally

From 1950 to 2010, median age increased by five years

In the 40 years to 2050, projections suggest, the median age will increase even more, by a further 8 years

Regionally, there are differences:

Developing countries are ageing fast:

− Latin America is the continent set to age the fastest, its median age likely to increase by 13 years by 2050

− Asia is also expected to age rapidly, its median age increasing by 11 years over the same period

Northern America, by contrast, is ageing more slowly – its median age increasing by less than 4 years to 2050

Some developing regions are ageing fastest

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Populations across the world are ageing

Median age, years 1950 2010 2050

World 23.5 28.5 36.1

More developed regions 28.5 39.9 44.5

Less developed regions 21.4 26.4 34.9

Africa 19.2 19.2 24.7

Asia 22.0 28.8 39.8

Europe 28.9 40.3 45.7

Latin America and Caribbean 19.9 27.3 40.6

Northern America 29.8 37.3 40.9

Oceania 27.9 32.2 39.0

Source: UN World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision.

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Global life expectancy has increased steadily over the past two centuries, by about two years per decade

Moreover, this trend is not expected to level off:

− UN projections suggest further increases in life expectancy, by more than 2 months per year until 2050

Birth and fertility rates globally have been falling since the end of the 19th century

Projections by the UN suggest that, by 2050, fertility rates globally will fall below the global replacement rate of around 2.3 children per woman

The two trends: rising life expectancy and declining fertility

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Population ageing is the result of two trends plus an anomaly (1 of 2)

Source: UN World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision.

Global life expectancy and fertility rate

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015 2025 2035 2045 2055

Children per woman

Years

Life Expectancy (lhs)

Fertility (rhs)

Projections

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Between 1946 and 1964, the number of births in North America, Europe, and Australasia surged

As the baby boomers age, this ‘demographic bulge’ passes through the population, raising the population’s median age

Today, the baby boomers account for more than one-third of the adult population in the US, France, Germany, and the UK

The first of the baby boomers turned 65 in 2011:

− By 2030, the whole of this large cohort will be 65 or older

The anomaly: the post-World-War-II baby boom

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Population ageing is the result of two trends plus an anomaly (2 of 2)

Population by five-year age group, Western Europe (thousands)

Source: UN World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision.

Notes: Western Europe: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

0-4 10-14 20-24 30-34 40-44 50-54 60-64 70-74 80-84 90-94 100+

1990

2010

2030

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The focus is shifting from considering the length of life to considering the quality of life

US evidence is that longevity increase is accompanied by a shorter period of illness and disability (longer active life expectancy)

Evidence from Europe is more mixed, but apparently healthy life expectancy increases broadly in line with life expectancy

This suggests that the extra years of life are generally healthy

This trend may well continue

Thus healthy life expectancy is increasing broadly in line with life expectancy

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The ‘extra’ years of life are, by and large, healthy

Life expectancy and active life expectancy (ALE) in the US at age 65, men and women

Source: Manton, K. et al. (2006), Long-Term Trends in Life Expectancy and Active Life Expectancy in the US.

Years % Forecasts

64

68

72

76

80

84

88

0

5

10

15

20

25

1935 1950 1965 1982 1999 2015 2022 2030 2050

ALE/LE (%, rhs) Life expectancy Active life expectancy

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Myths of ageing and policy responses

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Public health spending has more than doubled in OECD countries since 1970, from about 3.5% of GDP to more than 9% in 2012

It seems set to rise further, by 3pp-odd of GDP over the next 20 years

The principal reason, however, is not that people are living longer: the bulk of health spending occurs in the last few months of a person’s life

An increased proportion of older people (i.e. the baby boomer effect) does cause an increase in healthcare spending

But the increase in (healthy) life expectancy by and large does not

The growing number of older people does, although only to a small extent

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Myth: increased longevity raises healthcare spending

Individual health expenditure and death proximity in the US

Source: Yang Z. et al. (2003), Longevity and Health Care Expenditures: The Real Reasons Older People Spend More.

$

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

36 33 30 27 24 21 18 15 12 9 6 3

Time to death (calendar months)

Age 65 to 74 Age 75 to 84 Age 85 and Older

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In most countries, the official retirement age has scarcely changed, notwithstanding rising life expectancy and healthy life expectancy

Life expectancy is expected to continue rising faster than the pensionable age

This results in an increase in the average number of pension-claiming years:

− The problem is compounded by baby boomers

Pension systems, therefore, need to be reformed to reflect rising longevity:

− If policy does not evolve to changing (positive) circumstances, the funding gap occurs, and widens

However, this requires appropriate policy reform

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Ageing populations do not have to strain the pension system

Average ages for men and women for OECD countries

Source: UN World Population Prospects 2013; OECD 2011

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050

Years

Average pensionable age Life Expectancy

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Policy, particularly in the West, will undergo enormous, continual, change. Policy stands to:

First, encourage older people to work longer. The retirement age stands to increase progressively:

− The participation rate of old-age workers has increased rapidly over the past 10 years (see chart)

Second, decrease pension benefits, which will increase the incentives to continue working

Third, increase contribution requirements

Given the scale of changes required, all three options stand to be employed, to a greater or lesser extent

Increase retirement age; decrease pension benefits; increase contributions

10

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012

15-24

25-54

55-64

65+

Change in UK Labour Market Participation by age group

(Indexed at 100)

Source: OECD 2013

Three likely policy responses to ageing populations

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Implications of ageing

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Standard economic theory posits that people pursue a pattern of life-cycle savings, e.g.:

− People accumulate assets during their working years, and decumulate them during retirement – thereby smoothing their consumption throughout their lifetime

In practice however, several studies find that consumption falls significantly at retirement – the so-called ‘retirement-consumption puzzle’:

− Several explanations have been proposed:

First, people use rules of thumb, rather than forward-looking optimising behaviour, to determine retirement saving;

Second, retirement could be associated with an unanticipated negative income shock; and

Third, a more sophisticated version of the life-cycle model, which suggests that people could be expected to substitute leisure for consumption.

However, the effect of population ageing on aggregate savings and demand could be expected to be fairly small. The increased number of people aged 65+ in the population could broadly offset the fall in consumption at the individual level

All that said, there are many uncertainties around future behaviour of older people, especially as the next generation of retirees will be richer than its predecessor

But at the aggregate level, it is likely to be rather small

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The impact of ageing on consumption and savings is unclear

Source: Deaton, A. (1992), Understanding Consumption and Smith, S. (2004), Can the Retirement Consumption Puzzle Be Resolved? Evidence from UK Panel Data.

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Due to declining mortality and fertility, population ageing has led to dramatic shifts in family structures, from ‘pyramid’ to ‘beanpole’ families, in which:

− Each generation is smaller;

− There are more years between generations; and

− More generations are alive at the same time.

This has led to profound impacts on intergenerational transfers:

− People inherit from their parents much later than they used to

− People in their 50s often have to bear the financial cost of bringing up children later in life, while supporting parents who live longer, and may need expensive care – the so-called ‘sandwich generation’

This change is impacting intergenerational transfers

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Population ageing has led to shifts in family structures

Source: UN World Population Prospects: the 2012 Revision

Notes: Western Europe: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland

Population by age group, Western Europe (thousands)

1950 (stationary) 2010 (constrictive)

0-20

20-40

40-60

60-80

80+

25,000 15,000 5,000 5,000 15,000 25,000

Female Male

0-20

20-40

40-60

60-80

80+

30,000 10,000 10,000 30,000

Female Male

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Population ageing has myriad implications for business

Businesses will not be able to avoid an ageing workforce. Many companies are already changing their firm’s age structures

Employing older workers need not necessarily be a burden – they can bring a range of opportunities and benefits, e.g.:

− B&Q1 abolished its retirement age and opened two stores staffed by over 50s. A survey of the two stores benchmarked against four other B&Q’s found that:

Profits were 18% higher;

Absenteeism was 39% lower; and

Shrinkage was 58% lower

The age of the average consumer is rising, and the older cohort represents a large part of the market, presenting an opportunity for new firms to enter, e.g.:

− SAGA: offers insurance and financial services, as well as holidays, for the over 50s market

Consumer spending profiles of the older cohorts are different from those of younger cohorts, leading to a range of growth opportunities for existing firms, e.g.:

− Nintendo: released the Wii, specifically the Wii Fit, and Nintendo DS intending to target the older generation with ‘exercise’ and ‘brain-training’ games

1B&Q (2007): Age, it’s only a number

Businesses that see opportunities, and adapt, stand to prosper

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Ageing is often thought of in negative terms. It is common to hear that:

− An older society means a larger number of older people in poor health

− There will be too many old people for the working population to support (e.g. pensions and healthcare)

− Growth will slow due to a large inactive population

However, these preconceptions generally rest on false assumptions: how can it be that more years of healthy life is a problem?

Furthermore, from the standpoint both of the individual and of society as a whole, the fact that people are living ever-longer must surely be seen as a positive

To the extent that an ageing population poses issues for pension and health systems, or companies, the presumption surely has to be that both public and private sectors need to adapt to it

Population ageing brings myriad opportunities for society as a whole, and for companies in particular. While all companies will be affected one way or another, certain sectors will be ‘natural’ beneficiaries from population ageing

Companies that adapt appropriately stand to prosper: those that do not will flounder

Societies, however, need to adapt to it

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Conclusion: population ageing should not be seen as a negative

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