Silver Economy: Characteristics and Evolutionary Scenarios for the Italian Economy

The progressive aging of the population is a trend that affects the most developed economies, especially the Italian one. Very often, in fact, the phenomenon of aging is perceived exclusively as a problem, a criticality, especially for the welfare systems that are subjected to increasing pressures in terms of higher spending on pensions, health, social assistance and above all a great commitment to active aging and non self-sufficiency, when in reality, if well interpreted and managed also in the light of the increase in life expectancy in good health, it can represent a great opportunity and generate positive implications for the country from an economic and employment point of view and social. But also a great investment opportunity on the part of the market in all those activities that make up and constitute the so-called Silver Economy. The identification of a shared definition of the Silver Economy represents one of the major critical issues as there is, at the moment, unanimity on what is meant by this term, which is the reference audience and which economic sectors involved. Considering the difficulties in giving a universally shared identification, one can first of all refer to the definition adopted by the European Commission in the Report The Silver Economy of 2018, which speaks of the Silver Economy as "the sum of all economic activity that serve the needs of people aged 50 and over, including the products and services they purchase directly and the further economic activity this spending generates "or" the set of economic activities that meet the needs of people aged 50 or over, including the products and services of which these people directly benefit from the additional economic activity that this expense generates ”. By setting the age threshold at the age of 50, the Commission considers the demographic aspect as the only discriminating parameter. Different sectors may be affected by the Silver Economy depending on the definition adopted. For the purposes of this study, we keep the definition from the European Commission but we limit the reference perimeter by adopting the criterion of the chronological age which in most countries coincides with the legal or effective retirement age: therefore we define the Silver Economy: " the set of economic activities aimed specifically at the population aged 65 or over and offering tangible and intangible services, goods, consumer products or investments as well as forms of psychological, rehabilitation and health assistance"