Have you heard of the "Silver Economy"? It is in fact all the economic activities (non-medical) intended and/or produced by retirees...with "silver" hair, not to mention elderly people, seniors or even old people.
This new economic sector aims to help these people remain independent for as long as possible by anticipating demographic changes since the aging of the population is a reality:in 2035, one in three French people will be over 60!
Will the Silver Economy be a lever for growth? This is what our Ministers for Productive Recovery and the Elderly are hoping for, who signed a Silver Economy sector contract in December 2013. In this, they follow what the Directorate for the Animation of Research, Studies and Statistics (DARES) provides, which considers that the Silver economy could be the source of the net creation of 300,000 jobs by 2020. Not to mention that the market is global since 1 billion seniors are expected in the world by 2024.
In fact, we quickly realize that the Silver economy is very large, diverse and far from being homogeneous and coherent because it affects the home automation of home equipment, technologies allowing autonomy, tourism and travel thought for seniors, but also in the food industry, insurance, the textile sector or all kinds of personal services, for example.
Everything related to the smart home offers vast prospects for making life easier for retirees and reducing the loss of autonomy. To do this, job creation is envisaged.
Before being confronted with the loss of autonomy, young retirees are often active, involved in associations, passionate about travel or sports, in short, dynamic and even if they take pleasure in looking after their grandchildren from time to time, they don't wait only after that.
We often talk about retirees as the segment of the population that has the means to consume. Admittedly, this is true for some of them who were able to retire with significant full-rate pensions and sometimes a few small golden parachutes or severance bonuses. On the other hand, another part of seniors lives with incomes that are close to or below the poverty line, and benefit from social transfers.
It is particularly in this section of retirees that we find many "active people", out of necessity more than to participate in social life. The example of Mamy Factory is proof of this, with its line of children's clothing knitted by retirees. More common, the distribution of leaflets in mailboxes allows retirees to supplement their meager income. Conversely, more exceptional, senior actors are popular for playing in commercials for products whose target is the 3rd age!
The Silver Economy is so attractive that a BtoB exhibition of technologies and services for seniors was even created and takes place in December together with the Personal Services Fair, the Maison du Mieux Vivre and the Senior Residences, Retirement Homes and Ehpad Fair!
It is clear that the issue of promoting the autonomy of the elderly for as long as possible is crucial, from a societal, economic and financial point of view:dependency is very expensive for the community.
