October 23, 2023 – The McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) today published a new report Aging with purpose: Why meaningful engagement with society matters, which finds that older adults who participate in society – including working, volunteering, or pursuing life-long learning – report a 4-8% higher health status compared to those who don't. There’s also an enormous economic benefit to societal participation: MHI’s research suggests that this could lift GDP between 2% and 15%, plus unlock up to 100 billion additional volunteer hours.
This research is based on MHI’s Global Healthy Aging survey, one of the largest surveys of adults aged 55 and older across 21 countries. The new report delves deeper into the different forms of societal participation, the barriers older adults face when attempting to participate in activities later in life, the economic benefits of unlocking more opportunities for societal participation of older adults, and how cities, through government and community structures, can be ideal platforms to engage more older adults.
“Cities can play a major role in unlocking the health and economic opportunity of older adults,” said Madeline Maud, Healthy Aging Co-Leader, McKinsey Health Institute. “This includes evolving social, physical, and political infrastructures to become inclusive and supportive of people of all ages.”
“Over the next few decades, the number of adults over 65 is set to double to 1.6 billion people, a demographic shift that society must embrace,” said Anthony Darcovich, Engagement Manager, McKinsey Health Institute. “When older adults can meaningfully engage in their communities, it’s good for their health and well-being – and it’s good for society."
“Societal participation fosters strong relationships and purpose – two important health factors for older adults,” said Paula Schabel, Engagement Manager, McKinsey Health Institute. “There’s also enormous economic potential. Just by enabling older adults who want to work to reenter the workforce, we could unlock a nearly $6.2 trillion annual GDP opportunity.”
Read the report here.
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About the McKinsey Health Institute
The McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) is an enduring, non-profit-generating entity within the firm. MHI believes, over the next decade, humanity could add as much as 45 billion extra years of higher-quality life, which is roughly six years per person on average — and substantially more in some countries and populations. MHI’s mission is to catalyze the actions needed across continents, sectors, and communities to realize this possibility.