A lecture and debate at The International Longevity Centre

Professor Stuart Gietel-Basten, Associate Professor of Social Science and Public Policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Respondents:

Professor Carol Jagger, Professor of the Epidemiology of Ageing at Newcastle University

Steven Baxter, Club Vita

Population ageing is often presented as an existential threat. And traditional demographic measures of ageing amplify the message that longevity creates an economic and social problem that needs to be solved.

However, these measures are based upon binary ideas: of being ‘old’ at 60 or 65, and then becoming ‘dependent’ on the labour force aged below this age.

Recent publications by Professor Stuart Gietel-Basten and his collaborators in Europe and the USA have turned this idea on its head, presenting a radically different way of measuring ageing which, in turn, reconceptualises the entire concept of how longevity and society interact with each other.

During this event, Professor Gietel-Basten will set present his analysis and arguments, before we debate whether we should adopt a new way of measuring ageing and how can we can make this happen.

The ILC is the UK’s specialist think tank on the impact of longevity on society, and what happens next.