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.

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