Question time: Getting Older

It’s so often noted that it’s become a cliché, but it’s also a fact: the most populous generation of all time – the baby boomers – are hitting the pension years. Advances in medical technologies continue to maintain our bodies longer and ultimately extend lifespans … but they also cost money. Retirement ages are creeping upwards, not always by choice, as households calculate what they can afford. And in our increasingly contract-based employment landscape, other older workers find themselves permanently out of work before they’re ready. We may need to re-evaluate what ‘ageing’ means and at what stage we officially recognise it.

What’s ahead for our ageing population – in terms of both social infrastructure and the way individuals choose to live their lives? How does ageing differ between cultural backgrounds, according to family values and attitudes to care? And how do we honour wisdom and experience, while offering (or planning for) support?

Join Susan Ryan, John Daley, Patricia Edgar and Michele Gierck as they explore these issues affecting all of us, old and young, while we decide what our society will look like in the 21st century.