1132. A Day in the Life: What's It Really Like to Be a Demographic and Longevity Expert?

“My thesis, my view of the world and what it was going to become, really came into being at AARP and I am forever grateful to them for that. My fundamental belief is that because we are on average extending human life, because we are extending our healthy years much longer, we can live and be active in the community for a longer time. These are the more reality-driven outcomes than what our systems had been designed to do. Also, because there is a shift in demographics in the labor market such as lower birth rates. Our systems are pushing too many people out of work and into retirement and we have too few people coming in. Older workers have become an essential part of our economic harmony. That people retire at 65 seems crazy to me. We need to keep people engaged for longer periods of time as income earners and also consumers if we want our economy to flourish. If we are unable to do that, which is my big fear, the economy slows down and we begin to lose some things we’ve built over the past hundred or so years such as the social welfare programs that are the bedrock of Western civilization. And this is coming in just a few years without some pretty significant change. This is the biggest issue outside of climate change that we are going to have to focus on.”

Bradley Schurman is an expert on demographic change and how it disrupts social, cultural, political, and economic norms. His deep understanding of population shifts, coupled with his grasp of emerging trends, makes him an authoritative voice on the future of our world.  He’s the author of THE SUPER AGE: DECODING OUR DEMOGRAPHIC DESTINY and the founder and CEO of the global research and advisory firm, The Super Age. He’s written for Newsweek, been quoted by The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today. He’s appeared on CBS News and NBC’s TODAY Show and as a guest on podcasts, radio, and television shows in the U.S. and around the world.