Inequalities in Longevity | Drivers, Frailties and Policy Responses to an Underestimated Challenge

The Fondazione Giorgio Cini engages with themes of particular global significance in cultural, scientific, and political debate.
The conference Global Health in the Age of AI (7–9 November 2024) examined the social implications of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
The conference Democracy and Pandemics (13–15 November 2025) focused on the medical, international, and political dimensions of pandemics.

In 2026 the Foundation turns to the theme of longevity, exploring its many facets — from its distant cultural roots to the present day, when, for the first time in history, life expectancy has risen significantly and the human aspiration to longevity is being pursued systematically through scientific research.
The possibility of living longer represents a great achievement for humankind, yet it also poses political, economic, and ethical challenges that must be studied and discussed so that the benefits of longevity may be accessible to all.
Inequalities in Longevity (3-4 July 2026) brings together twenty international experts to discuss inequalities in longevity, examining their causes and their scientific and socio-economic consequences, and weighing possible policies to reduce these disparities.
Life expectancy is unequal both globally and within individual countries. It is correlated with each country’s level of economic development, but it also depends on social and cultural differences. Wealthier groups live longer and in better conditions than less affluent ones. Education, too, plays an important role in enhancing not only life expectancy but also quality of life in old age. These gaps are often considerable. New medical technologies, such as personalised therapies, may widen such differences, markedly improving the quality of life of those who can access them while leaving others behind.
The social difficulties facing an ageing population are numerous, beginning with the various forms of frailty that affect many older people, such as physical vulnerability, isolation, and chronic illness.
Addressing disparities in longevity calls for wide-ranging measures that include medical prevention, welfare policies and healthcare for the less affluent, as well as education in healthy lifestyles.
Persistent inequalities may call into question the very definition of fairness on which the design of pension, healthcare, and welfare systems rests, at a time when a longer average lifespan entails an increase in the public and private resources needed to ensure adequate living conditions for the elderly.

The theme lies at the heart of two conferences that explore the many aspects of longevity from different perspectives. Humankind and Longevity, to be held from 19 to 21 November 2026, aims to offer a comprehensive view of the effects that the profound changes brought about by a longer life expectancy have on humanity.

Inequalities in Longevity examines these issues from three different perspectives.
Session 1. Sources of inequality: examining issues and trends in life expectancy.
Session 2. The several dimensions of frailty: tackling the medical, economic, and social aspects of vulnerability in the elderly.
Session 3. Policies for addressing inequalities: delving into the nexus between longevity and economic inequality and strategies to contain the latter.

The conference will be live-streamed. Further information and the application form will be available here in the coming days.

PROGRAMMe

Friday 3 July

9am Session 1 | Sources of inequality

9am

Opening Remarks

Daniele Franco

Scientific Director, Fondazione Giorgio Cini

 

9:20am — 10:20am

Socioeconomic Inequalities in Longevity

Paul Bingley

Danish Center for Social Science Research, Copenhagen

 

Addressing Old-Age Inequalities: The EU Perspective

Fabiana Pierini

European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

 

Unemployed Growth and the Emerging Inequality of Longevity

Keith Lee

Professor of AI/Finance, Swiss Institute of Artificial Intelligence (SIAI)

 

10:20am — 10:50am

DISCUSSION

 

11:10am — 12:10pm

Differential Vulnerability to Climate Change Impacts on Health and Mortality

Raya Muttarak

Università di Bologna

 

Digital Disparities Among Older Persons: The Role of Artificial Intelligence and Algorithms

Justyna Stypinska

WZB Berlin Social Science Centre, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg

 

The Rising Income Gradient in Life Expectancy in Sweden

Mårten Palme

Stockholm University

 

12:10pm — 12:30pm

DISCUSSION

 

2:30pm Session 2 | The several dimensions of frailty

 

2:30pm — 3:30pm

Inequalities in Longevity: Rethinking Equity and the Intergenerational Pact in Ageing Societies.

Francesco Landi

Università Cattolica, Roma

 

Years not Lived: Frailty, Social Isolation and the Inequality of Dependency

Barbara Hanratty

Newcastle University

 

The Life-Course Construction of Old-Age Poverty

Michel Oris

Spanish Research Council – CSIC, Madrid

 

3:30pm — 4pm

DISCUSSION

 

4:20 — 5:40pm

Active and Healthy Ageing

Agar Brugiavini

Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia

 

Changing the Way Their Story Ends: A Life-Course Approach to Ageing Equally Well

Christine Brown

WHO Venice

 

Ageism’s Impacts: A Workplace Perspective Across Spatial Geographies

Lucia Dal Negro

De-LAB, Fondazione Bassetti, Milano

 

Strategies for Tackling Poverty in Old Age. The Experience of Sant’Egidio

Giancarlo Penza

Comunità di Sant’Egidio

 

5:40pm — 6:10pm

DISCUSSION

Saturday 4 July

9am Session 3 | Policies for addressing inequalities

 

9am — 10am

Can Inequalities in Longevity Be Taken into Account in Public Pension Systems – and Would It Be Appropriate to Do So?

Ole Settergren

Founder of “Better Public Authorities Foundation”

 

Long-Term Effects of Social Policies in a Life-Course Perspective

Guglielmo Weber

Università di Padova and SHARE – Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

 

Pensions and Longevity: From System Sustainability to Individual Preparedness

Monica Paiella

INPS and Università Parthenope

 

10am — 10:30am

DISCUSSION

 

10:40am — 12pm

How Can Pension Systems Deal with Inequality in Life Expectancy?

Hervé Boulhol

OECD, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs

 

Boosting Productivity and Growth: The Role of Human Capital in the Age of AI

Gregorio De Felice

Chief economist and Head of Research, Intesa Sanpaolo

 

Inequalities in Pension Coverage in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies

David Pinkus

Executive Director, Coller Pensions, London

 

Living Longer, Living Unequally: A Life-Cycle Approach to Enhance Welfare and Reduce Inequality

Elsa Fornero

Università di Torino, former Italian Minister of Labour

 

12pm — 12:30pm

DISCUSSION