Still working? Staying fit? Hankering for travel? Older Australians are a diverse bunch

A comprehensive new study has taken a deep dive into the lives of Australia’s nine million people aged 50 and older, and the results are, frankly, worrying.

A comprehensive new study has taken a deep dive into the lives of Australia’s nine million people aged 50 and older. Picture: Supplied

You tell your kids, and maybe your grandkids, that you’re fine and everything is OK. Then you change the subject and ask about them. But how do you really feel?

Do you feel older or younger than your actual age? Do you feel physically fit? Are you doing enough exercise? Do you want to stop working but can’t? Or be working when you’ve stopped?

Do you want to travel? Or hunker down? Overseas or interstate? Do you have enough money to take a holiday? Do you have enough money? Is life better or worse for you than it was a couple of years ago? Are you worried about the future?

A comprehensive new study has taken a deep dive into the lives of Australia’s nine million people aged 50 and older, and the results are, frankly, worrying. The numbers tell a story of growing concern about the future, about rising cost of living and limited access to healthcare, about feeling undervalued in the workplace and discriminated against more generally. Of feeling as if they will never be in a position to stop working and retire.

But there are some positives as well, the SEC Newgate research, commissioned by the Council on the Ageing Federation finds, with most people feeling younger than their biological age and seven in 10 rating their quality of life as high.

Older Australians are not an amorphous mass, of course, with the State of the Older Nation 2023 report uncovering significant differences depending on age, gender and geography.

For instance those aged over 70 are far likelier to report their health as being very good compared with those in their 50s.

Men are much likelier than women to be doing at least two hours of exercise a week.

And Victoria’s over-50s are the least likely among the states and territories to be worried about their long-term finances.

The study, the third in a series undertaken by COTA since 2018 and based on a nationally representative survey of more than 2700 over-50s, probes into the wants, needs, joys and worries of older Australians.

Some of the data points are fascinating. While it may seem encouraging that over-50s feel on average 7.7 years younger than their actual age, the study notes that this number has fallen sharply across the three surveys. In 2018 it was 10.8 years.

Perhaps not surprisingly, those aged 70-plus felt an average nine years younger than their age, while those in their 50s felt only five years younger.

Women feel eight years younger on average compared with seven years for men.

If a general theme can be extracted from the study, it would be that older Australians are not feeling as good about the future as they were only a few years ago.

Nearly half say things are getting worse, compared with 33 per cent in 2021 (in the midst of Covid-19) and six in 10 of those who feel that way nominate cost of living as a reason, almost double the 31 per cent observed in the 2021 survey.

“There has also been a significant decline wave-on-wave in the proportion of those feeling positive about what the future personally holds for them, from 70 per cent in 2018 to only 60 per cent in 2023,” the report says.

“Post-lockdowns … social, mental and physical health does not seem to have bounced back to pre-Covid levels, which may indicate burnout as people move through the pandemic.”

Older Australians are also concerned about their health, another dominant theme in the report. While half of over-50 men and 44 per cent of women are doing more than two hours of exercise a week, with Queenslanders the most enthusiastic exercisers and South Australians the least, it is access to health services they worry about.

“One-fifth (19 per cent) reported not being able to access a health service in the previous year, despite wanting to,” the report says. “This is a significant increase since … the 2018 survey (12 per cent). Of particular note, the proportion of those unable to access a GP or nurse at a medical centre has more than doubled, from 13 per cent in 2018 to 28 per cent in 2023.”

The survey questions are not asked in a vacuum. The nine million Australian over-50s make up more than a third of the population. Every one of them can vote, which is why Jim Chalmers calibrated his budget with older Australians in mind, particularly on health and aged-care spending.

COTA Australia chief executive Pat Sparrow says the 2023 federal budget had an eye to older Australians, women in particular, in providing cheaper medicines, energy relief, more general practitioner bulk billing and extra JobSeeker funding for those over 55. Investing in higher wages for aged-care workers was another positive, she says.

“We know that older women are disproportionately impacted by unemployment and are unfortunately the fastest growing group at risk of homelessness, so budget measures that address those issues are not just welcomed, they’re crucial,” Sparrow says.

But governments, both state and federal, have much to glean from the COTA survey in terms of future policy development, she says. COTA is calling for a new nation­al strategy aimed specifically at the concerns of older Australians.

“Our report provides policymakers with a great understanding of the issues and concerns older Australians are currently facing. We need a whole-of-government strategy that not only addresses today’s challenges but has a focus on prevention for future generations.

“As older Australians continue to live longer, we need policies that improve and support their lives,” Sparrow says.

“Band-Aid solutions cannot fix the challenges we are confronted with today. The inevitability of old age means getting the policy settings right is in the interest of all Australians.”

The study takes a detailed look at older Australians’ long-term finances and their working habits, and asks for the first time about travel intentions.

About a quarter say they feel insecure about their finances carrying them through the rest of their lives, with people in their 50s (29 per cent) much likelier to be worried than those in their 70s (19 per cent). Women are much likelier to feel this insecurity, 27 per cent compared with 21 per cent for men. Victorians were least likely to be concerned about their long-term finances, with older people in NSW the most worried.

The relationship between work and ageing is a complex one, the study finds.

“Over half (52 per cent) of working Australians think they will not be able to retire until 66 or older,” it says. “Concerningly, around a quarter (23 per cent) of those who are still working feel they will never retire, with those in financially precarious or vulnerable positions significantly more likely to feel this way.”

There are many not working who want to be, or who want to work more. Of those still working, more than a quarter would be hoping to have more hours, the report finds, unsurprisingly the most financially vulnerable.

But there is a clear barrier. One in four says they have experienced age discrimination in the workplace in terms of job promotion or access to more meaningful work, or when seeking work. Those in their 60s were the age group most likely to report employment discrimination.

“They report being told they were ‘over-qualified’ or ‘unsuitable’ for a job or simply passed over for a younger candidate,” the report says.

“It’s clear that some older Australians aren’t feeling valued in the workplace or during the recruitment process, despite their experience and eagerness to work.”

Later this year the Albanese government will release its white paper on full employment, along with an update to the Intergenerational Report prepared by Treasury. Both will have an eye on long-term expectations in the workforce. Tackling the difficult challenge of how to keep older workers employed if that is what they want will be a vital consideration for both documents.

Sparrow argues that recruiting and retaining older workers is a no-brainer, pointing to 2012 research from the Age Discrimination Commissioner that found a 3 per cent increase in the over-55 workforce could boost gross domestic product by $33bn.

“If we can keep older people in the workforce longer by tackling cultural issues in businesses and internalised ageism from older people themselves, governments will see results very fast with increased tax revenue and productivity in the workforce,” she says.

That’s all a little worthy. What about some fun? The survey for the first time explores whether older Australians are keen to travel, either interstate or overseas. It seems we are quite intrepid, with two-thirds intending to go on at least one holiday within the next 12 months.

Of those planning to travel, 60 per cent said they would go interstate and 35 per cent said they would be hopeful of going overseas. This means overall 24 per cent of older Australians say they intend taking an overseas holiday some time in the next year. Financial comfort is closely linked to travel aspirations, unsurprisingly.

South Australians appear to be the happiest to stay at home, with just 17 per cent looking to an overseas holiday. They are also the least likely to be planning to move house in the next five years.

Sparrow says the study overall shows older Australians as a group with diverse interests, preferences and states of mind.

“Assumptions that all older people are the same is outdated,” Sparrow says. “We need dynamic policy solutions to ensure that the needs of a diverse range of older people are empowered to live their best lives.”