The world’s workforce is approaching a historic turning point. By 2037, the share of the global working-age population will begin to shrink. Yet the share of people aged 65 and older will continue to rise. This is not only a high-income country story: every region is on this path. There is growing concern that these demographic shifts will hurt economic growth. However, the nature of older people’s work has received remarkably little attention from researchers and policymakers, especially in developing countries.
This report by the World Bank and AARP explores older people’s work patterns in developing countries and proposes policies to enhance productive aging, and, with it, improved well-being and overall economic growth, while recognizing that there are limits to working in old age. It uses harmonized household surveys from a large set of developing countries to measure two aspects of work in the context of aging: older adults’ access to market and non-market work and the productivity of those who continue to work.