• People aged 50 and over accounted for a quarter of the Argentinian workforce in 2017 – this could rise to 31% by 2035.
• Over half of all dollars (56%) in the G20 economy were spent by older households (those led by people aged 50 plus), amounting to 22% of GDP.
• If remunerated, the value of volunteering done by older people in non-European G20 countries would equate to nearly 0.5% of GDP.

We’re accustomed to ageing populations being presented as a bad thing. But far from being a cost or drain on public resources, older people’s social and economic impact is significant.

Such contributions could be much higher if we removed avoidable barriers to working, spending, caring and volunteering, with the most important being poor health.

Countries that invest more in health see more people working, spending and volunteering, and that investment in prevention drives a return. Spending just 0.1 percentage point more on preventative health can unlock an additional 9% in spending by older consumers and an average of 10 extra hours of volunteering across the G20.

This report highlights the economic contributions of older people in Argentina today and what more could be done to unlock a longevity dividend over the years to come, which could be instrumental in the post-COVID recovery.

To achieve this, we call on the Government of Argentina to adopt an Ageing Society New Deal that sees spending on prevention raised to 6% of health budgets, alongside greater support for older people’s paid and unpaid contributions.