About
The ILC-UK has embarked on a programme of work to develop a new Longevity White Paper, identifying the changes we need to make to grasp the opportunities of population ageing, and longer lives. This project aims to:
- Present a positive, solution-focused vision for the UK and the world.
- Make the case for longevity to be recognised at the heart of government planning and thinking.
- Set out how and why businesses should work to maximise the ‘longevity dividend’.
The development of our Longevity White Paper, which is sponsored by Aviva, will identify new evidence-based solutions for an ageing society. The ILC is consulting experts in ageing and longevity and experts across a range of other crucial fields – including technology, climate change, international relations, children and youth policy, and media and communications – to help us to ensure that the solutions we develop will work for everyone.
From September to December 2023, the ILC released a series of thematic briefing papers setting out the issues of concern, sharing compelling new statistics, and inviting solutions which you can read via the “Themes” tab.
The report of this project One hundred not out: A route map for long lives was published at ILC’s Future of Ageing Conference on Thursday 7 December 2023
The Longevity White Paper project work is sponsored by:
One hundred not out: A route map for long lives
ILC’s report sets out the challenges facing communities in an ageing world and includes a mix of next-step solutions, bolder ideas, and international examples that we believe could work to tackle them. The full One hundred not out report is broken down into 11 chapters, each of which relates to a certain challenge our increasing life span will pose for government, industries, our society and individuals.
The ideas and solutions included in each chapter are far from an exhaustive list. If anything, we want to build upon them. We aim for these to be a conversation starter and to encourage further debate, investment and action. While we hope there are some ideas that there is a general agreement with, we also hope that there are some that people disagree with too.
We have also published a shorter ‘In brief’ document which is not a traditional executive summary but is intended to give a flavour of a few of the ideas in the full document.
Future generations o
f retirees are likely to be poorer than those of today, the ILC’s new data reveals a startling decline in the share of wealth held by those under 40. Analysis of ONS population data shows that in 2010/11, people under 40 made up just over half (50.6%) of the total population but held just £7.53 of every £100 of wealth. A decade later the proportion of under 40s slightly declined to 49.5%, but their share of wealth plummeted to just £3.98.
Work is fundamentally a good thing: meaningful activity, whether paid or voluntary, keeps us connected and gives us purpose. We know what people want: flexible work; decent pay and a good work-life balance. But too many people don’t have that. In 2023, almost one in ten people (9.54%) aged between 50 and the SPA left work involuntarily. There are 1.65 million people aged between 50 and 69 who have been pushed out of work early due to a combination of redundancy, ill health or early retirement.
The UK retail industry is currently at risk of missing out on a ‘longevity dividend’ valued at over half a trillion pounds by 2040 because not enough
is being done to make shopping – both online and offline – attractive to us at every stage of our long lives. As a result, rates of spending among over-65s are not keeping up with the growth in the population. ILC’s analysis finds that despite there being 1.7 million more people over 65 than a decade ago, spending by over 65s has only increased by 3.5%.
The ongoing shortage of houses has left too many young people and families with nowhere affordable to live. However, significant numbers of older adults are stuck in homes larger than they need – with little to tempt them to move. Only 11% of the 1 million property purchases every year in England involve buyers aged 65+ (yet they make up 38% of adult households)
Average healthy life expectancy in parts of the UK has fallen by over six years in less than a decade – a downward trend that began pre-pandemic. Preventable conditions among those aged 50-64 cost the UK at least £27 billion a year (not including losses due to poor mental health and COVID-19).
There is now clear evidence linking loneliness with a range of physical and mental illness – including depression, dementia, and cardiovascular disease. In 2023 the US Surgeon General issued a formal advisory on the threat of social isolation and in the UK analysis by the Campaign to End Loneliness demonstrated that over half a million more people are experiencing chronic loneliness in the UK than before the pandemic.
Travel isn’t just about getting from A to B – with the right infrastructure it can be a pleasure in itself. Yet our current transport infrastructure is built around a narrow focus on getting workers to workplaces, rather than enabling citizens to live good lives, travelling for work, leisure and pleasure.
We all 
need to spend time doing the things we love with the people we love. Whatever our age, socialising, eating and drinking travelling, engaging in culture and heritage, learning, and being active are the things that make life good for most of us. Yet too many of us are locked out of fun by cost, access barriers, or attitudes that make us feel unwelcome due to our age. Meanwhile, leisure industries are on the brink and urgently need to tap into new markets.
Our relationships sustain us – grounding our identity and offering us practical and emotional support through good and bad times. As we live longer lives, we’ll likely need a range of changing relationships over time, but there’s not enough support available for building or sustaining these. Those who don’t conform to the “mum, dad and 2.4 children” mould are too often left out in the cold.
As we live longer lives, more of us will spend time both caring and being cared for, not just as children but as adults, with disabilities or through periods of ill-health and towards the end of our lives. Our care systems are ill-equipped to deal with an ageing society: long-term underfunding means families and friends are left picking up the pieces, while disabled people and people with long-term conditions are held back from the lives they want to lead
News
07/12/2023
Longevity experts set out bold solutions to maximise the opportunity of longer lives
Financial incentives for exercising, a leg up to adulthood with a ‘decent start’ lump sum payment for school leavers and allowing bereaved or separated individuals who let out bedrooms, to retain the single-person council tax discount are among the bold ideas set out in One hundred not out: A route map for long lives, published today by the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC).
30/11/2023
Better support needed for a lifetime of caring, argues longevity experts
The ILC’s new briefing “Do they care?” argues that as we live longer lives, more of us will spend periods of life both caring and being cared for – not just as children and parents but also as adults.
21/11/2023
Public policy is based on an outdated view of love and relationships
New evidence shows significant shifts in our closest relationships over recent decades – with many more, across all generations, living the single life – but public policy has failed to keep up, argues the leading think tank on an ageing society. The ILC latest briefing, ‘To have and to hold?’ evidences how our family structures are changing as attitudes and aspirations change as we live longer lives.
17/11/2023
Fewer of us are adding life to years as we add years to life
The International Longevity Centre’s latest briefing, ‘Living it up?’ highlights that there is clear evidence that enjoying ourselves, spending time with others, getting exercise and engaging in the arts is good for us as individuals and important for our economy.
03/11/2023
Walking more popular among older people today than a decade ago, while younger people are walking less
The ILC’s have today published new analysis of the National Travel Survey data, which demonstrates worrying trends away from active travel among young people, as it warns that England’s transport infrastructure is ill-suited to support healthier longer lives for its citizens.
31/10/2023
Experts warn of loneliness trap in deprived communities, impeding healthy ageing
The ILC’s latest briefing document published today shines a light on what it describes as a worrying fragmentation of communities across the UK, with those living in the most deprived communities at greatest risk of falling into a trap of long-term loneliness.
19/10/2023
Urgent paradigm shift from lifespan to ‘health span’ needed in the UK, argue longevity experts
A new briefing from the ILC, the UK’s leading authority on longevity, argues that UK policymakers need to urgently shift from a focus on lifespan to extending ‘health span’, ensuring that longer lives are healthy and productive.
16/10/2023
Shortage of the right size homes, suitable across our lives has left too many people in unsuitable housing that can harm their health
New analysis by ILC confirms significant numbers of older adults are stuck in homes larger than they need – with little to tempt them to move. Only 11% of the 1 million property purchases every year in England involve buyers aged 65+ (yet they make up 38% of adult households).
26/09/2023
More inclusive retailers could cash in on a ‘longevity dividend’
The UK retail industry is currently at risk of missing out on a ‘longevity dividend’ valued at over half a trillion pounds by 2040 because not enough is being done to make shopping – both online and offline – attractive to us at every stage of our long lives. As a result, rates of spending among over-65s are not keeping up with the growth in the population.
18/09/2023
More than a million over 50-year-olds remain “involuntarily workless”
A decade ago, the International Longevity Centre (ILC), the UK’s leading authority on demographic change, reported on the “missing million” – people over 50 pushed out of their previous job because of ‘shocks’, a combination of redundancy, ill health or early retirement. Today, over a million are still missing from the workforce.
10/09/2023
Pensioner poverty – the widening wealth gap between generations
Future generations of retirees are likely to be poorer than those of today, as new data published by the International Longevity Centre (ILC), the UK’s leading authority on demographic change, reveals a startling decline in the share of wealth held by those under 40. Analysis of ONS population data shows that in 2010/11, people under 40 made up just over half (50.6%) of the total population but held just £7.53 of every £100 of wealth.
22/08/2023
Longevity experts develop a plan to maximise the opportunities of longer lives
The International Longevity Centre (ILC), the UK’s leading authority on demographic change, has embarked on a programme of work to develop a new Longevity White Paper, identifying the changes we need to make to grasp the opportunities of population ageing, and longer lives.
About Future of Ageing conference:
- Future of Ageing is an annual policy conference which explores the impact of longevity on society and what happens next.
- Every year, the conference assembles experts from Government, business and third sector, academia and the media.
- Attendees come from a wide range of sectors, from health to housing, to retirement income and education.
- While the conference takes place in London, participants and speakers join us from across the world.
This year’s conference was held at the Wellcome Collection, in London, on 7 December 2023. Find out more here.
Get in touch
Do you have ideas and solutions that would enable populations to age better? Let us know via events@ilcuk.org.uk