Jobs For A Centenarian

Today’s children are expected to live at least 120 years old and work until they are 100.

20:32 26 October 2015

As we enter a new ear of longevity in terms of life expectancy, 

 

Today’s children are expected to outlive their parents mainly due to available scientific advances including powered exoskeletons and memory-preserving drugs. Rohit Talwar, a futurologist, said that today’s 10-11-year-olds will live to at least 120 and that the majority of them will have to keep working until they reach 100.

 

He said that they could take on a wide range of jobs including being a counselor, a classroom assistant, building instructor, or even a chef. He also forecasted that workers will adopt a “portfolio” approach to employment and could have as many as 10 different, shorter careers in their lifetime.

 

"We are entering a new era of longevity in terms of life expectancy. But it seems we're also entering a transformational time in terms of the way work happens," says Sarah Harper, director of the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing.

 

"Just compare now to what happened 100 years ago or so. Then, many women died in their 40s because of having to give birth many times. Lots of people died young."

 

"There's not a lot in the modern workplace that many 70-year-olds couldn't cope with today," says Harper. "Eighty-year-olds may be more variable in their capacity, but that will change.

 

"By then, many 100-year-olds could be able to do the same as 65-year-olds, or even 50-year-olds, today. And, if you look at it like that, what is there that a 50-year-old can't do in most workplaces that 30 or 40-year-olds can?"