- [Narrator] All 10 of the
world's most populated countries have leaders or a leader
elect over the age of 70. Compare that to a decade ago when that was true for only one country. - Well, more than half of
the world at this point lives in a country where
a leader is over 70. - [Narrator] And those
leaders are on average more than 40 years older than
their population's median age. Here's why the world's politicians are increasingly older
than their constituents, and what it means for policies and political engagement around the globe. (worker mumbles) Globally, the median age
of world leaders is 62 with most of them in their 50s and 60s. And the gap in age between
leaders and their constituents is more pronounced in certain regions. Like Sub-Saharan Africa where the population has
been growing younger, but leaders are some
of the oldest globally. Cameroon has the world's
oldest in Paul Biya. - I do so swear. - [Narrator] Who at 91 has been in power for more than 40 years, but
there are some exceptions. - [Jon] In Europe, people are older, but politicians aren't. - The cases where we often tend to see, particularly younger leaders
or exceptions to this rule, are often in countries that
have very strong parties and a strong party system. Countries where parties
get very actively involved in recruiting young
people into their ranks. - [Narrator] In the US, concerns about age have filled the election cycle. - Don't you think we need to
have mental competency tests for anyone over the age of 75? - [Narrator] When they face
off in the 2024 election, President Joe Biden and Donald Trump will be the oldest candidates
in US history again. - I know it may not look like it, but I've been around a while. - [Narrator] US presidents'
ages have been trending upwards in the last century, but
it's not just the president. In 2021, the US Congress
was the oldest on record. - It's very important for
the legitimacy of democracy that politicians actually
are seen to reflect and represent the people who are voting. - [Narrator] But that representation is lopsided when it comes to age. 39% of voting age Americans are under 40, but only 8.3% of US legislators and the House of Representatives are. Down from 22% in 1981. And worldwide, the
median age of legislators has trended upwards in
the past few decades. - So, there are a number of reasons why we are seeing this trend. One, of course, is medical technology is just getting better and
it's spread more widely. The broad rise of autocracy
in the world is something that is likely going to
lead to more older leaders. - [Narrator] Two leaders of those 10 most populated countries,
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have deepened their power
in Russia and China. 35% of the world's population
is living in countries deemed to be moving towards autocracy according to research institute, V-Dem. But in non-autocratic
states, it can be hard for younger candidates to
run in costly elections. - Just harder to get
money if you're young. Maybe you were born with it,
but if weren't born with it, you then have to go to
people to give you that money and they tend to be older, and you have to persuade them to back you. - [Narrator] The US had
its most expensive election in 2020 at $14 billion. - It's not the only place
where individual candidates are asked to amass the sort of war chest to be able to gain access to office. This is very much the
case in countries in Asia, in Japan, and in South Korea. Right, which are right
there with the United States of having very few young
people in government. - [Narrator] And with
more career politicians, younger candidates may not have as many opportunities to run. In the US, incumbent reelection rates have never dropped below 85% in the House. Incumbents also have an
advantage around the world. - Once you get your foot in the door, you can often stay there
for quite some time. To be clear, I think there
are a lot of positives to having people who know
how to get things done, who have rich networks that allow them to actually see policy through. - [Narrator] But the over-representation of older politicians could mean that... - Young people in particular are just less interested
in say, a given election when the leaders are much older than them. - [Narrator] Around the
world, youth voter turnout is lower than the rest of
the voting age population. In a survey across 33
countries, 44% of young adults from 18 to 29 said they always voted, compared to 60% of the entire population. Yet the younger end of the electorate is still valuable for candidates. And politicians around the world have tried to appeal to younger voters. - In the United States, one of
the funniest recent examples was Joe Biden setting up
his own TikTok recently, and the first caption was
titled "lol hey guys." - I didn't say I was for the Eagles and I'd be sleeping alone. - Let's go back to
Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, this ex-General with a
very controversial record who's now trying to appeal to youth. He danced. He did this jig. (upbeat party music) His dances became viral,
and supporters picked it up and made their own interpretations. And suddenly, he became
this dancing grandpa who cuddled cats. The one thing that political
scientists worry about is essentially a vicious
circle where young people get demoralized because
they feel like their options are only older leaders. They maybe don't vote. - [Narrator] So, politicians
might favor policies important to those who voted for them, and ignore those that are more
important to younger people. - There's all sorts of
policies in the world that disproportionately
affect young people. Policies on education,
unemployment, childcare. - [Narrator] That was the case
in Japan where younger mayors were more likely to increase
spending on childcare, which was important to younger voters. - Younger politicians were
much more likely to dedicate that spending toward
investment for the long term. You know, these younger politicians potentially have greater
concern for the future, particularly in a country
like Japan that faces these challenges for the
social welfare budget of a rapidly aging population
and declining birth rates. - [Narrator] And if younger voters feel like their interests aren't represented, it can lead to a lack of
trust in the government. - Our planet's on fire. - The world's changing very fast. There are a lot of new, big
challenges that we face. It can make young people question the legitimacy of the
system if the politicians who are attempting or sort of attempting to tackle these problems
are quite a bit older. - [Narrator] That's
particularly true when it comes to rapidly advancing
tech and social media. - How do you sustain a business model in which users don't pay for your service? - Senator, we run ads. - How does that show up on
a seven-year-old's iPhone who's playing a kid's game? - Congressman, iPhone is
made by a different company. - So, if you don't have a
sort of greater age diversity at the decision making table, then you're really missing out on people who have this direct personal experience. Much greater familiarity with
how technology is changing and can use that expertise
to all of our advantage. (bright rhythmic music)
