Beyond the numbers: How demographic change is rewriting the rules of retirement, health and growth

Demographics isn’t just dry tables and charts or esoteric academic debate. It’s about forces that are actively reshaping the world we live in, from rising life expectancy and shifting fertility rates to the growing pressures of an ageing population.  

How are these forces going to impact the future of our economy, healthcare, and pensions systems? In season four of Beyond Curious with LCP, I have explored the challenges and opportunities these forces bring, with experts across pensions, health, economics, longevity and politics. We unpacked what demographic change really means for society. 

In this blog, I look at some of the key themes that came out of the series.   

Life expectancy trends: improvements on the horizon?  

One reason demographics is climbing the political agenda is longevity trends. Over the last two centuries average lifespans have doubled, but Covid-19 and systemic healthcare pressures have slowed progress recently. 

That doesn’t mean improvements are over. Medical innovation, better cancer diagnosis and behavioural change all point to future gains. In episode 7, Chris Tavener and Ben Rees explored what shifting longevity trends mean for pensions and insurers.  

Rethinking retirement  

Many private sector workers in their 40s and 50s face an uncertain retirement having missed out on generous defined benefit pensions. This leaves them reliant on defined contribution (DC) schemes and exposed to the risk that their pension savings are insufficient.  

In episode 6, Sir Steve Webb talked more specifically about what an ageing population with low private savings means for pension provision. He highlighted challenges with fragmented DC pots, variable investment performance and contribution levels that are too low. Yet he was optimistic that the new Pensions Commission could deliver a more durable system. 

With people working longer, there was much discussion in the series the need to reframe retirement itself. In episode 5, Heidi Allan pointed to today’s multigenerational workforce and the rise of employees working well beyond traditional retirement ages. 

Alexandra Miles from Legal & General developed this further in episode 8, rejecting the idea of retirement as a single event. Instead, she described a four-phase model, from gradual reduction in work through to final dependency. She also highlighted the gender pension gap: women typically retire with less than half the savings of men, largely due to career breaks and part-time work. Intervention in people’s 40s, she argued, is essential if this is to change.  

The economic and political implications of demographic change 

Our changing demographic picture requires a radically different approach to how policymakers, businesses and communities view our health. In episode 2, Dr Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard, Head of LCP Health Analytics, stressed that health should be seen as an investment, not a cost. A healthier, more productive workforce supports both economic growth and fiscal sustainability. 

In episode 9, Ben Franklin of the International Longevity Centre reinforced this, warning that ageing is not a distant challenge but a current fiscal reality. With high public debt and mounting pressures on health and pensions, the UK has limited wriggle room. His prescription: maximise the talent pool in older age groups through job design, flexibility and prevention – a strategy that could add around 2% to GDP. 

Franklin also called for a shift in how we define “old age”: not from 65, but as the last 15 years of life. Framed this way, the UK’s dependency challenge looks far less daunting – and closer to the reality already seen in Sweden and Iceland, where employment rates for 55–64 year-olds exceed 75%. 

Both he and Pearson-Stuttard emphasised the link between poor health and regional inequality. The gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least deprived 10% of women in the UK is around 19 years. Such disparities drive demand on health services, weaken local economies and widen productivity gaps.  

Dr Amlan Roy in episode 4 described demographic change as one of the defining economic forces of our time – influencing GDP, productivity and prices of assets such as equities, bonds and property. He also sounded a warning around intergenerational fairness. With older age-groups in high-income countries holding a disproportionate share of wealth, policy reform in pensions and investment in education and skills is needed to ensure this doesn’t become entrenched. 

Across the series it was clear that the UK needs a new economic strategy – one that unlocks the potential of an ageing workforce and treats reducing health inequalities as a central economic goal. 

Will AI help ease demographic pressures? 

An ageing population inevitably increases pressure on health services, and technology may be part of the solution. In episode 3, Dr Ben Bray and I discussed how AI is helping boost back-office efficiencies as well as in the field of diagnostics and imaging. A recent Huntington’s disease breakthrough using AI drug screening shows the potential of AI in tackling tomorrow’s health challenges. 

We also touched on AI’s impact on the workforce and Alexandra Miles discussed how automation may impact society’s attitude towards certain types of jobs. She introduced the idea of ‘wisdom workers’; the concept that roles such as care work that involve human judgment and empathy will become more valued as AI reshapes human work.  

What’s the takeaway?  

Demographic change is not a distant horizon, it’s shaping our economy, our health systems, and our social fabric today. 

This series highlighted the need for a mindset shift. We need to see ageing as an opportunity. That means rethinking retirement, investing in preventative health, designing age-inclusive workplaces, and ensuring our economic strategies reflect the realities of a longer life. 

Our conversations have shown that with the right policy, innovation and collaboration, our lives can be lived not just longer, but better. The question is no longer whether demographic change will reshape our world – it’s how we choose to respond.