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What's the point of living a longer life if there aren't enough working age people to pay into a safety net for the elderly? - The U.S has largely avoided that

What's the point of living a longer life if there aren't enough working age people to pay into a safety net for the elderly? - The U.S has largely avoided that problem due to maintaining the middle part of the population age pyramid. But Europe and Japan aren't going to do well as their population ages and there aren't enough young workers to pay into it.

dumpHero2 4y ago
Living longer doesn't just extend the tail end of life, it extends the retirement age as well. Humans spend 20 years learning & work for 40. Imagine if we could work for 80 instead!!
- JamesBarney 4y ago
  Not to mention the productivity gains of having people who have the experience of workers in their 40's with the energy levels of people in their 30's would be a big productivity boon.
- bobolino123 4y ago
  You mean work for 45-50 years :( they will likely move the retirement age from 67 to 70 in europoor. Some people start working fulltime at like 15-16.
UncleOxidant 4y ago
Hopefully, if you live longer you'll be able to work longer as well... but then again, age discrimination is a thing.
- jiminymcmoogley 4y ago
  I feel like a lot of the underlying biases behind ageism come from its association with age related health issues though. The only "justifications" for ageism that'd be left once it becomes sensible to assume the average 95 year old has the same cognitive ability as the average 30 year old would be related to expectations of upcoming parental leave and maybe the idea that for two candidates with the same CV, the younger one has accomplished as much in a shorter timeframe and is therefore a better bet. I don't know if there's a solution to these two issues but I doubt ageism would have more of an impact on a person's employability after a hypothetical cure for aging than before. Not to mention the fact that you can always selectively disclose info to potential employers to conceal your age, to some extent.
JamesBarney 4y ago
Right now the issue is we can people alive but can't slow down aging. If we kept people alive by slowing down aging you wouldn't have to retire as early.
ben_w 4y ago
Wouldn't worry; reversing ageing implies the elderly won't need a safety net, and we'll all have longer to start families. Who knows, perhaps the second part will increase fertility rates back up to replacement levels… And that's ignoring any of the economic transformation that AI will bring even without any genuinely novel breakthroughs.

dumpHero2 4y ago

Living longer doesn't just extend the tail end of life, it extends the retirement age as well. Humans spend 20 years learning & work for 40. Imagine if we could work for 80 instead!!

JamesBarney 4y ago
Not to mention the productivity gains of having people who have the experience of workers in their 40's with the energy levels of people in their 30's would be a big productivity boon.
bobolino123 4y ago
You mean work for 45-50 years :( they will likely move the retirement age from 67 to 70 in europoor. Some people start working fulltime at like 15-16.

UncleOxidant 4y ago

Hopefully, if you live longer you'll be able to work longer as well... but then again, age discrimination is a thing.

jiminymcmoogley 4y ago
I feel like a lot of the underlying biases behind ageism come from its association with age related health issues though. The only "justifications" for ageism that'd be left once it becomes sensible to assume the average 95 year old has the same cognitive ability as the average 30 year old would be related to expectations of upcoming parental leave and maybe the idea that for two candidates with the same CV, the younger one has accomplished as much in a shorter timeframe and is therefore a better bet. I don't know if there's a solution to these two issues but I doubt ageism would have more of an impact on a person's employability after a hypothetical cure for aging than before. Not to mention the fact that you can always selectively disclose info to potential employers to conceal your age, to some extent.

JamesBarney 4y ago

Right now the issue is we can people alive but can't slow down aging. If we kept people alive by slowing down aging you wouldn't have to retire as early.

ben_w 4y ago

Wouldn't worry; reversing ageing implies the elderly won't need a safety net, and we'll all have longer to start families. Who knows, perhaps the second part will increase fertility rates back up to replacement levels… And that's ignoring any of the economic transformation that AI will bring even without any genuinely novel breakthroughs.