The UN report says populations are aging in all parts of the world. The most-rapid age increases are in developing countries. In those countries, people live -- on average -- sixty-eight years. By twenty-fifty, the average person will live seventy-four years. Life expectancy is seventy-eight in developed countries. Children born today in developed countries can expect to live until the age of eighty-three.

Richard Blewett is chief executive officer of HelpAge International, a publication partner of the UN report. He says, in many countries, older people are not seen as helping the economy.

“Governments are not really living up to the expectations of their senior citizens and they could do a better job. What’s needed there is long term vision and strong political will and a clear sense of priorities.”

Mr. Blewett says sixty-seven percent of the older people who answered questions for the report said their biggest problem was employment discrimination. But he said some countries are beginning to see the advantages, or gains, of having older adults. For example, grandparents in rural China increasingly care for grandchildren as their parents move to cities to find jobs.

Martha Farnsworth Riche is the former head of the United States Census Bureau. She says a community in Australia talked with its retirees about their transportation needs.

“One very simple thing that came up, was that people needed more time, pedestrians needed more time, to cross the street. Now there was (a suggestion to) run the street lights with longer green light time.”