Increased Longevity in Europe: Adding Years to Life or Life to Years?

In 1950, life expectancy at birth in Spain was 64.2 years for women and 59.3 years for men. Thereafter and to the present day, this life expectancy has risen practically uninterruptedly to reach, in 2020, 85.1 and 79.6 years, respectively. The case of Spain is not the only one, since the inhabitants of most countries in the world are living to ages that seemed unattainable only a few decades ago, and this represents a historic landmark for humanity (Vaupel et al., 2021). While it is true that the generalised postponement of mortality is an unprecedented collective success, it must be asked whether we are equally successful in our efforts to delay the onset of disease and disability (or, in other words, morbidity). If decreasing mortality rates are not matched by an equivalent decline in morbidity rates, people in these societies tend to live for more years but in a worse state of health (Gruenberg, 1977). This is a phenomenon with enormous consequences for the sustainability of health and pensions systems, as we know them. In this issue of Perspectives Demogràfiques we explore the extent to which the increases in longevity recorded in Spain over the last 30 years have happened with gains in years in good health (which is to say, “adding life to years”) or in bad health (“adding years to life”). Focusing not only on quantity but also on the quality of the years gained, we aim to shed new light on a pressing issue of today which should be taken into account in the designing of a wide range of public policies that must, as a matter of necessity, go beyond the confines of what is strictly understood as the domain of health.