As the default retirement age is abolished and the state pension age recedes, what are the implications for graduates who can’t get jobs? What does the future hold for people now in their forties, fifties and sixties?

As the UK faces up to the challenge presented by an ageing society the need for innovation and a reconceptualisation of later life in paramount.

Innovation for a New Old Age brought together leading innovators in this area to discuss and debate the rhetoric around this issue and discuss the paradigm shifts that will need to take place within society if later life is to become more productive, sustainable and rewarding.

Geraldine Bedell from agebomb blog started by outlining the stark challenge facing the UK and posing questions about how retirement is currently conceived for the speakers.

Marc Freedman from Civic Ventures talked about the differences between the USA and the UK and called for the invention of a new stage of life, for a period that used to be retirement. Much like adolescence was invented in the early 1900s there should be a new stage of life before retirement, the new old age.

Charlie Leadbeater - Nesta fellow and a leading thinker on social innovation chaired a panel including Caroline Waters from BT and Chair for Nesta’s work on ageing, Jane MacLachlan from Age Unlimited and Marc Freedman.