Sarah Kanowski

As older women, we shouldn't just be considered as the ones who might do the babysitting.

We have a lot more to do.

It's my absolute pleasure, Sarah.

Thank you.

This is Conversations with Sarah Konoski.

Everywhere around the world, people are living longer and longer.

In the past half a century, human life expectancy across the globe has jumped from 46 years to 73.

That's especially the case in societies like ours.

On average, Australians are now living until they're 84 years old.

And a shout out right now to my own mum, who's 91, and my dad, who turned 96 on Anzac Day.

On the surface, all this living longer seems to be a very good thing.

Most of us want more life.

We want to have as much time as we can to enjoy our loved ones, to look at the stars, to feel the sun.

But prolonged old age, as is more and more common, can be a lonely, unhappy and painful time.

Not the rich end note to a life well lived, but a bitter diminishment.

Our living longer is also costing society as a whole in many ways, and the price is highest for our youngest citizens.

Lucinda Holdforth is a writer who specialises in looking at what makes societies flourish, everything from manners to politics to equality.

Now, after supporting her own parents in their long old age, Lucinda has turned her attention to the negative impacts of our new longevity, and she has some surprising suggestions about how we could do things differently.

Her book is called Going On and On.

Hi, Lucinda.