No matter from which angle you approach it, longer lives create an impetus for learning. As we work for longer, we will need to continue training and re-training to keep our skills up to date. As we plan for longer retirements, the need for education will only grow. Lifelong learning has been shown to have benefits for individuals, as well as for wider society. Enabling us to keep learning is a vital response to societal ageing.

In this briefing we set out the role of lifelong learning in helping us address some of the key challenges associated with longevity. The challenges are:

• Longevity is changing our working lives
• Longer lives are not always healthy lives
• Retirement income

The briefing considers the policies announced as part of the 2019 General Election campaign and looks at ways in which the rhetoric of lifelong learning can be made into reality.

Author: Dan Holden