Life expectancy !

The good news is that we are living longer. The bad news is that things will have to change to finance those additional years.

In 1910 the male life expectancy was 57 years. A hundred years on it is now 80 - and women live even longer. Somehow we are expecting that those twenty-three extra years of life can be fitted within the previous financial arrangements.

Superannuation is a case in point. In 1910 the average male was expected to die before he became eligible for the pension. Today he may live a whopping fifteen years beyond that pension age. The pension age is under pressure to be extended to 67 to relieve that pressure.

It is all part of a complex mix that sends a shudder through economists. As people live longer, so the need for nursing homes and hospital facilities increases. If the retirement age is increased, it decreases job opportunities for school leavers because the old guys are still working and slowing the job chain.

The medical people are making encouraging noises about human years extending even further. It is suggested that a greater number of people will live for a century in the near term - and optimists believe that by mid century such an age may be attainable for most people.

The frightening aspect is the inevitability that eventually this longevity will extend to those parts of the world still stuck with 1910 life expectancy levels - or less. If the whole planet reaches the life expectancy of the developed nations - will the food supply be adequate ?

And as the food supply is in question at this moment in time - that is a very sobering thought for all !