Longevity policy: Facing up to longevity issues affecting social security, pensions, and older workers

Abstract

The life expectancy of Americans continues to increase, and each day 12,000 baby boomers turn 50, expanding the ranks of our older population while ramping up the pressure on public and private retirement programs. At the same time, public policy has failed to keep pace with the challenges this aging population brings of how to pay for the living costs of those added years; many of our current social policies and employee benefit policies were designed during an era when people had shorter life spans. Turner addresses these policy issues and makes the case that longevity policy should be recognized as a distinct area-as we do now for climate change. Instead of treating issues relating to older age, Social Security, and pensions separately, we need to recognize the interrelationships among these areas and adopt a unified approach toward policy. Doing so, Turner argues, would make for much more effective and efficient policymaking. © 2011 W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. All rights reserved.