Productive Longevity : What Can Work in Low- and Middle-Income Countries?

The world’s population is aging at dramatic speed. By 2050, most of the world’s seniors (aged 65+) will be living in what are currently low- and middle-income countries. Aging will require low- and middle-income countries to develop comprehensive policy solutions to sustain welfare levels and ensure that welfare is equitably distributed across generations and socioeconomic groups. Given higher informality and lower human capital levels in low- and middle-income countries than more advanced economies, the balance and composition of the policy package in these contexts may differ, but there will be a common need for labor market policies to increase “productive longevity”—that is, to foster higher labor force participation and productivity among mature workers. This paper presents a framework identifying market, institutional, and behavioral failures that create constraints to productive longevity, and policies that may overcome these constraints. Drawing, to the extent possible, on the experience of low- and middle-income countries, the paper reviews evidence on supply-side and demand-side interventions to improve incentives, remove barriers to work, and invest in skills, as well as policies to improve matching of mature workers in labor markets. The paper ends with a discussion of meta-lessons for low- and middle-income countries.