We have added years to life. Now we need to add quality of life to those years.
Living longer is no longer the exception. Today, in Portugal, almost one in four people is aged 65 or older. Longevity has become a widespread reality, with implications for healthcare, employment, savings, housing, and social relationships. The challenge is to create the conditions that allow people to live with quality and dignity throughout every stage of life.
Between 1980 and 2025, the proportion of the population aged 65 or older increased from 11.3% to 23.2%, according to PORDATA. Projections indicate that, by 2050, this age group could account for approximately one third of the Portuguese population. This demographic shift requires an integrated approach that brings together several different dimensions.
As far as possible, these additional years should be lived in good health, with independence and quality of life. Prevention, access to healthcare, and the promotion of healthy lifestyles are essential, both for individuals and for the sustainability of healthcare systems.
Addressing longevity goes beyond healthcare. It also requires us to rethink how work is organized throughout people’s lives. Continuously raising the retirement age is not enough, particularly while barriers to hiring people beyond a certain age remain and working environments do not always support longer careers. We need to reconsider the structure of working life itself, creating opportunities for career transitions, different types of employment arrangements, and less linear professional paths, allowing people to remain active and integrated.
Between 2011 and 2024, the number of unemployed people aged 45 or older with higher education qualifications increased by approximately 83%, rising from 12,200 to 22,300, according to Statistics Portugal. These figures do not include those who have stopped actively looking for work.
Qualified senior unemployment carries costs that extend beyond social benefits. It also results in lost Social Security contributions, personal income tax revenue, consumer spending, and productive capacity. An indicative calculation based on social benefits and losses in contributions and tax revenue suggests annual costs amounting to hundreds of millions of euros.
However, the financial dimension of longevity is not limited to the effects of exclusion from the labor market. Longer lives and less linear career paths require a greater ability to cope with career interruptions, illness, caregiving responsibilities, and longer retirement periods. This resilience depends on adequate income, but also on greater financial literacy, which is an essential skill in times of increased professional and personal uncertainty.
Quality of life also depends on social relationships, support networks, and the opportunity to participate in the community. Regardless of age, people need social connections and a sense of purpose. Communities should therefore be inclusive and encourage everyone’s participation, strengthening relationships and a sense of belonging. In 2023, more than one million people lived alone in Portugal, representing approximately one in ten people. Of these, 574,900 were aged 65 or older, accounting for more than half of all people living alone, according to PORDATA.
Living alone does not necessarily mean being isolated. However, the risk of loneliness increases when living alone is combined with illness, financial difficulties, mobility problems, or a lack of nearby support. This is particularly relevant in Portugal, where, in 2020, 61% of people aged 65 or older reported health-related limitations in their daily activities, compared with an average of 49% across the European Union, according to Portugal’s health profile published by the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.
These different dimensions do not operate independently. Exclusion from the labor market weakens income and social participation. Health problems reduce people’s ability to work and save. Financial vulnerability limits access to prevention, suitable housing, and support networks. Loneliness, in turn, worsens physical and mental health.
In this context, an aging population is expected to increase demand for solutions related to prevention, care, adapted housing, assistive technologies, financial products, and professional reskilling. This transformation can stimulate innovation, investment, and new forms of value creation.
However, the development of an economically significant market does not, by itself, guarantee benefits for society as a whole. Innovation may focus on those with greater purchasing power, leaving a large proportion of the population dependent on overstretched public systems or increasingly fragile family support networks.
Companies have a central role to play in responding to this reality. As providers, they can explore new market opportunities and develop products and services that meet the needs of people at different stages of life. As employers, they can combat ageism and create the conditions for longer and more sustainable careers by valuing each person’s contribution, encouraging continuous learning, and promoting cooperation across generations. Integrating longevity into business strategy means creating economic value by serving people more effectively.
Living longer is an achievement. The priority now is to ensure that these additional years are not defined by exclusion, insecurity, or isolation. A society prepared for longevity must be able to value and integrate all generations, while creating opportunities for everyone.
Vasco Mano, Visiting Researcher at the Center for Responsible Business & Leadership at Católica Lisbon SBE