The International Longevity Centre-UK (ILC), the UK’s specialist think tank on the impact of longevity on society, is hosting its eighth annual Future of Ageing conference on Thursday, 24 November 2022. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, ILC will use this conference to reflect, take stock and look forwards.

A lot has changed over the last 25 years:

• The world population has increased by 2 billion and the proportion of those aged 65+ has increased by 50%.
• The State Pension Age has increased and become more generous. The Pension Commission has led to millions more people being auto-enrolled into private pensions.
• Age discrimination legislation has been introduced and compulsory retirement ages are a thing of the past for most of us.

But in lots of areas, progress has been slow:

• Inequalities in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy have grown.
• While more of us are working longer into our lives, 50-64 year olds are still less likely to be in employment than people aged 25-49.
• The public sector has built very few new homes and the private sector hasn’t been able to fill the gap for first- or last-time buyers.
• The 1997 Labour Manifesto commitment to “establish a Royal Commission to work out a fair system for funding long-term care” was the first in many failed attempts to create a consensus for reform on social care.

During Future of Ageing 2022, policymakers, business leaders, charity sector experts, academics will come together to explore:

• How has policy and practice on longevity changed over the past 25 years?
• Has business, government and the third sector responded adequately to increasing longevity?
• What needs to happen in the next 25 years?

Speakers at previous Future of Ageing conferences have included:

• Gillian Keegan MP (Minister of State for Care and Mental Health)
• Mims Davies MP (Parliamentary Secretary of State for Employment)
• Baroness Falkner (Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission)

Notes

Find more about the conference and get your tickets here.