Ageing population beneficial: report

The economic potential of older people will benefit New Zealand over the next 40 years, a new report says.
Senior Citizens Minister John Carter said today that in less than 20 years a million people would be aged over 65, compared with about 560,000 today, and in 40 years one in four would be aged over 65 compared with one in eight today.
"It is time to look at the economic benefits of ageing baby boomers rather than just the burdens," Mr Carter said when he launched the Ministry of Social Development's report The Business of Ageing, Realising the economic potential of older people in New Zealand 2011-2051.
"We need to think outside the square to maximise the opportunities that come with an ageing population. This report is a discussion-starter that presents new research on the subject."
In January this year, the first of New Zealand's baby boomers - people born between 1946 and 1964 - reached 65, and the report looks at enabling older people to remain active in the workforce and tapping into the growing consumer market of an ageing population.
"They will become one of the most significant consumer markets in New Zealand," Mr Carter said.
"They will have their own preferences that are quite different from earlier generations of older people, and also quite different from younger people."
Mr Carter said baby boomers would be healthier, better educated and have more spending power than any other generation reaching 65 in New Zealand's history.
"They want to stay active and keep working. Flexible work options could drive job growth and help us respond to projected skill and labour shortages."
Key findings in the report include:
More older people will participate in the workforce - by 2051, older people could account for one in 10 New Zealand workers;
The economic value of older people's paid and voluntary work would increase - their earnings from employment could rise from just over $1 billion to $10 billion;
Older people's contribution to tax revenue would increase, from about $200 million today to about $1.8 billion; and
Older people would spend more, from about $11 billion now to more than $45 billion.