August 2026

Ageing in Latin America and the Caribbean: inclusion and rights of older persons

By NU & CEPAL In Latin America and the Caribbean, population ageing —a demographic phenomenon that is characterized by an increase in the proportion of older persons and the lengthening of the life cycle— presents both opportunities and challenges for public policy. This document presents the report of Latin America and the Caribbean for the fourth review and appraisal of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002. The report analyses the current situation of ageing in the region and...

Shadow Pensions: An Exploratory Field Study of Informal Old-Age Income Strategies Among Jakarta’s Unregistered Workforce

By Fajrin Andi Muhamad Pratama Indonesia's main old-age insurance program, BPJS Ketenagakerjaan, is built almost entirely around formal employment-yet three in five Indonesian workers are informal, and only a small fraction of them are ever enrolled. National statistics capture the size of that gap well; they say almost nothing about what people actually do instead. I spent three days in Jakarta interviewing market traders and ojek drivers to find out. The results were not quite what I expected going in....

Saving for Old Age

By Asli Demirgüç-Kunt, Leora F. Klapper & Georgios A. Panos Countries around the world face a retirement crisis brought on by aging populations, declining birthrates, and fiscal shortfalls. As a result, policy makers increasingly seek to understand retirement savings patterns, a crucial component of the safety net for the elderly. Drawing on the 2014 Global Findex database, which provides individual-level data on the use of financial products in more than 140 countries, this paper examines how adults save for old...

Fewer babies, more retirees: How Europe’s demographic math is changing

Europe is confronting a demographic problem that is becoming increasingly difficult for governments to ignore: fewer children are being born while the number of older people continues to rise. The trend is already visible in shrinking schools, ageing communities and growing pressure on pension and healthcare systems. In the Spanish village of Vilardevos, the change is particularly stark. A primary school originally built for around 700 children now has only 31 pupils. Classes have to be combined because there are not...

The macroeconomic and fiscal impact of population ageing

By Katalin Bodnár & Carolin Nerlich The euro area, like many other advanced economies, has entered an era of drastic demographic change. Without appropriate policy responses, population ageing in the euro area is posing formidable challenges for potential growth, monetary policy and public finances. This paper examines – from a central bank’s perspective – the macroeconomic and fiscal effects of population ageing in the euro area and looks at the main challenges ahead in the next decades. Total population in the...

When aging meets digital & AI: Closing the silver digital divide for an aging world

We are living through two megatrends humanity has never seen before. The first is aging. Populations over 65 are growing not just in developed countries, but across many middle-income economies. As societies age, the strains pile up: fewer workers,  weaker demand, overstretched health systems, and rising risks to long-term fiscal sustainability. The second is the technology revolution. Digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can now deliver services once scarce and costly, from tutoring workers to guiding patients and delivering public services. These are the...

In memory care deserts, senior centers can help close the gap in brain‑related healthcare

About 90 miles north of Phoenix, the town of Yarnell nestles atop a winding mountain road. Phoenix, a sprawling city of more than 1.6 million people, has one physician for every 2,407 people. But in Yarnell and other rural areas in Arizona, the ratio is one for every 3,896. Like many rural residents across the U.S., people in this small town face major barriers to care – especially those with cognitive issues. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the American population aged 65 and...

July 2026

Living Longer Isn’t The Same As Aging Well & A Massive New Study Proves It

Living longer used to feel like the whole point. More birthdays, more time with people you love, more years to do the things that matter. But a new analysis tracking 204 countries over three decades is asking a harder question: are those extra years actually good ones? Researchers found that while life expectancy has risen significantly around the world, more of those added years are being spent managing chronic illness, pain, or disability. It's a shift that changes how we think about healthspan versus...

Population Aging Is Here. Immigration Can Offer Half an Answer.

Population aging has become a defining challenge of our time and is galloping ahead faster than predicted. In China, births have now fallen to levels not seen since 1949. But many countries are getting old before they grow rich: Comparable declines are being seen in Latin America, the Middle East, and North Africa. A shrinking workforce means less money to go around and increasing difficulties shouldering the costs of covering health care and pensions for retirees. In many fast-aging, wealthier...

Mapped: The Share of Seniors in Every U.S. State

By Dorothy Neufeld America’s population is aging, but the trend looks very different from one state to the next. Using the latest U.S. Census Bureau data via USAFacts, this map shows the share of residents aged 65 and older in every state. These differences have growing implications for healthcare, housing, public services, and the workforce. The Northeast is home to many of the states with the highest shares of seniors. Maine (23.5%), Vermont (22.9%), Delaware (21.7%), and New Hampshire (21.5%) all rank near...