Living to 90 and beyond? No thanks | Michele Hanson

Worrying news for people in developed countries who will be born in 2030. A new study suggests their life expectancy will exceed 90. Only last year the World Health Organisation told us that, globally, “babies born in 2015 [could] expect to live to 71.4 years”, so that’s quite a jump we see here (although only for specific countries, most notably South Korea, which boasts the greatest longevity).

I dread to think what next year’s estimate will be, because life in your 90s is not always much fun. My mother lived to 98. It was difficult and frustrating for her from 90 to 95, losing her independence, and hellish after her stroke in her mid-90s – by which time she was longing to die, often begging me and the hospital consultants to finish her off. “We can’t help you with that, I’m afraid,” said one consultant, and I had to look the other way and have a little cry.

But my mother’s despair was understandable. Because, as the WHO pointed out last year, that “healthy life expectancy falls a good deal short of life expectancy”. And that’s the big problem. It would be lovely to live into your 90s if you were fit and healthy, could live free of discomfort, and carry on doing the things you loved – dancing, cooking, chatting, getting about – but you usually can’t.

Life is not much fun if, like my mother and her peers, you can barely move or talk, everything hurts, you’re terrified of incontinence and dementia, someone else has to wipe your bottom, you feel like a useless burden, and most of your friends are dead. Or if they’re still around, you can’t get to see them. Who’s going to take you to meet your remaining old chums and look after you? As the lead author of this year’s report points out: “We will need to strengthen our health and social care systems … [to] support the growing older population.”

I would laugh if it wasn’t so serious. In the UK, our health and social care setups are going down the pan already. What state are they going to be in after 2030? I imagine 70- and 80-year-old children tottering around caring for their ancient parents. Unless they’re still working, because who can afford to be retired for 25-30 years?

I am frightened of death, but becoming almost more frightened of living to a very old age in this country. But perhaps I won’t have to. There are always caveats to these reports: climate change, natural disasters, new and uncontrollable diseases or gigantic wars may wipe out millions of us. I don’t like to sound too dismal, but I no longer know which is the worse option.

Living to 90 and beyond? No thanks | Michele Hanson