How do adults around the world think about aging? This just-released survey by Ipsos and the UK-based Centre for Ageing Better suggests that participants feel negatively about aging. More than 20,000 people age 16 to 64 from 30 countries responded to the online survey, which covered topics including:
- How they feel about later life
- When is old age
- Representations of older people in the media
- Political power of older people
- Technology’s role in supporting older adults
Highlights from the survey press release:
“Globally, just one in three (33%) are looking forward to old age. Americans fall slightly above the global average at 40%. Other countries feel much more positive about old age, including three quarters (73%) in India and two thirds (67%) in Turkey.”
“While people around the world recognize that there are positives to getting old, including having more time to spend with friends and family (36%), more time for hobbies and leisure (32%), more time for holidays and travel (26%) and giving up work (26%) they also identify a number of downsides. Globally, three in ten worry about not having enough to live on (30%) with a quarter worrying about losing mobility (26%) and losing memory (24%).”
“Despite this, a majority [of respondents] expect to be fit and healthy in old age (57%). In the U.S., only 45% agree with this sentiment. There is also considerable variation between other surveyed countries. Nine in ten of those in Colombia, Argentina, China, Peru and Malaysia (89%, 88%, 88%, 86% and 85% respectively) agree with this sentiment. In comparison, those least likely to agree are those in South Korea (17%), France (20%) Japan (23%) and Belgium (24%).”
Taken together though, this results in high levels of concern about later life. Globally, half (52%) [of respondents] worry about old age with people in Brazil and China (72% and 71% respectively) most likely to be concerned.”
Published: February 25, 2019