The Cycle Of Care In The Age Of Centenarians

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We are living through a time of enormous transformation. The human lifespan has more than doubled in length over the past century, and it’s on track to keep getting longer. In fact, experts predict that half of today’s five-year-olds will live to be at least 100 years old.

Over the next ten years, we can expect to see the techbio industry evolve further. Already, the techbio industry is exploring technology that promises to treat human health at the atomic level. Scientists are talking about programming atoms in the same way as they program computer bits today. Venture capitalists are showing signs that they will embrace and fund this kind of work, so that we can expect massive developments and, by extension, longer, fuller lives.

What will our new, long lives look like? One clue is in the Stanford Institute of Longevity’s New Map of Life. The map highlights the need for “momentous and creative changes” on an institutional level, to reflect drastically longer lifespans. Broadly, we can expect to see changes throughout the care economy in the future, and we especially need to see those changes reflected in new approaches to early childhood, education, worklife, and retirement. I call this new approach, designed for “the age of the centenarian,” the cycle of care- here’s a primer on how it could potentially manifest:

EARLY LIFE Investing in the early stages of childhood takes on a new level of importance, now that many children are expected to live to 100. Education will break the bounds of traditional school; the most exciting new programs are blurring the distinction between work, education, and community. For instance, consider WonderSchool, which was started to connect families to great daycare options, but also to encourage new childcare startups. Neon Wild allows young children to develop social skills and resilience contributing to mental health and wellbeing. ClassDojo creates communities between students, parents, and teachers. EarlyDay solves the early childhood educator shortage problem. Vertical software classroom solutions like BrightWheel automate administrative tasks so that childcare workers can focus on the kids.

LIFE TRANSITIONS Traditionally, work has been an inflexible, one-size-fits-all structure. People graduate from high school or college, and then go to work for four or five decades, doing their best to climb the corporate ladder, before finally retiring. In the midst of this, people get married, have children, and live their lives along the margins of their jobs. Typically, this means that work and family responsibilities peak in mid-adulthood. Women, who tend to be the carers, often carry enormous stress on their shoulders as they try to manage it all.

Instead of slogging through decades of work as they try to care for young children (and aging parents), tomorrow’s workers will be able to cycle in and out of the corporate arena, according to the other demands life places on them. We can also expect to see startups giving workers more freedom to design their schedules. Mirza is a startup that tries to solve the motherhood penalty with a zero-interest caregiving benefit. Grayce helps employees care for the ones they love through employee benefits. Cocoon makes getting employee leave easy. Modern Village has also created a solution called Milo, the family assistant, which boosts productivity by giving caregivers back their time.

LIFELONG LEARNING Continuous upskilling will play an important role not only for our future centenarians, but also for current generations who might decide to change professions for more flexibility during peak caregiving times. For children, skill learning will no longer be bound up in school, but will turn into a continuous part of life. That will start early with Primer, which lets children develop expertise and create communities around topics that they are passionate about. For adults, startups like Elevate use scientifically proven results to build leadership skills and learn to manage employees. We can also anticipate seeing more freelancing, especially among caregivers who want to find meaningful work even when they don’t have time for the demands of a traditional job. Companies like Podia can provide a platform for stay-at-home carers to earn money by creating online courses and communities.

WORKING LONGER The old paradigm has workers grinding away until they turn 65, when they suddenly retire and stop working altogether. The new circle of care takes a fresh look at that pattern. Instead of overworking our young and middle-aged people, what if we built off-ramps so that workers could come in and out of the workforce? Perhaps older workers could also come in and out of retirement. Many people aren’t ready to stop working at 65, and would prefer to mentor younger workers, consult, or freelance.

As the The Wall Street Journal has pointed out, the majority of the workforce will soon be older than 65. Older workers represent a wealth of institutional knowledge and wisdom. Forcing them out of the workplace would be a net loss for all of us. Our economy benefits from the kind of idea-sharing that comes from having older workers rubbing shoulders, and exchanging insights, with younger people. I believe we will see innovations and opportunities around benefits including vertical recruitment platforms, long-term-care insurance, unpaid sabbaticals, and the option to be a consultant for various smaller projects throughout the year.

LONGEVITY-READY TECHNOLOGIES Longevity isn’t enough- the question is, how can we build the best possible life for our whole society? Part of this entails solving the loneliness epidemic, which often plagues elderly citizens. Startups like Ruby and Element3 aim to create better connections for senior citizens. More seniors prefer to live at home as long as possible, and startups are also innovating in that space. Harmonize is a patient monitoring platform, whereas Sensi analyzes health data at home, minimizing hospital visits. CareAcademy provides online home training for caregivers. From a venture capital perspective, creating new everyday solutions for seniors is a huge opportunity with an untapped large growing market, high purchasing power, low net promoter scores, and little innovation to date.

Introducing change

Changes are not easy. Redesigning the way we live, work, and care will take time.

It’s worth looking at how our society has handled similar shifts in the past. Until the late 19th century, most people were agriculturalists. Retirement was unheard of, and people simply worked until their health gave out. It wasn’t until the 20th century, when Americans started receiving social security payments, that the average citizen could look forward to retirement as we know it.

If our society could make that shift, it’s clear that we are capable of another great transformation. From a venture capital perspective, I think there is an enormous opportunity to build a better, more equal society, all while creating growth opportunities. The Age of the Centenarian will be one of new possibilities, new definitions, and new dreams, and I am thrilled to be a part of it.

This article is from Entrepreneur.com