Exclusive Survey Shows What Americans Would Give Up for a Longer Life

To accompany our September cover story on cutting-edge longevity research, National Geographic commissioned a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults to understand what they really think about growing old.

Would they rather live past 100 or spend a shorter number of golden years disease-free? Are they open to trying experimental therapies that promise to slow down biological aging? What would they be willing to do to feel or look younger—and what would they give up in exchange? Finally, what do they make of a potential future in which aging itself might be optional?

It turns out that Americans are both hopeful and skeptical of treatments that could allow them to live healthy lives past 100. While 61 percent said they would pause at their biological age at a specific year if they could, survey respondents overwhelmingly prioritized health span—or years spent living disease-free—over lifespan. In fact, 64 percent said they would accept a shorter life if it guaranteed that their remaining years were free from physical and mental decline, rather than live a longer life with the frailty that can come with aging.

The survey—which was conducted by FINN Partners and which polled people over the age of 18 who were nationally representative of age, gender, and geographic region—also reveals the limits of what Americans would be willing to sacrifice in their quest for the fountain of youth. A third would give up alcohol forever if it added 10 healthy years to their lives—but only 15 percent were willing to ditch their favorite food. Nearly a fifth of respondents wouldn’t give up anything at all for extra years.

Taken together, the results show that most Americans are not so much preoccupied with the efforts to reverse aging per se—only 9 percent see it as a medical condition that science should actively try to treat. And 72 percent of respondents expressed concern about the risks of emerging longevity technologies, including cellular reprogramming, which scientists are now studying as a way to restore more youthful patterns of cell function, or senolytic drugs, which are designed to eliminate senescent “zombie” cells that can contribute to inflammation and age-related disease. 

Instead, most Americans surveyed are thinking about aging gracefully and gently slowing down what they see as a natural process.

What Americans Would Do to Live Longer and Feel Younger

For all the chatter about our cultural obsession with looking and feeling younger, a surprising 39 percent of respondents said they don’t plan to invest money in anti-aging tactics at all. If they do, they say they’re most likely to start with high-end lifestyle choices like switching to organic foods, hiring a longevity coach, or buying a premium fitness tracker rather than cosmetic surgery and Botox or advanced longevity therapies.

Still, a little over half of respondents said they would be open to trying at least one emerging longevity treatment if it showed strong success in early human clinical trials. And if such treatments are eventually approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 42 percent would take a daily cellular reprogramming pill, 27 percent would try senolytic drugs, 22 percent would have their blood plasma diluted, and 18 percent would swap out their aged organs with new ones.

That openness has limits, however: When informed about the potential risks of these treatments like uncontrolled cell growth or cancer, 48 percent said that clinical trials should move forward only with extreme caution compared with just 13 percent who thought they should proceed rapidly.

(Do NAD+ Supplements Really Work to Promote Longevity?)

What Americans Would Give Up for Extra Good Years

The appeal of a longer, healthier life is one thing. What Americans are actually willing to give up for it is another. It’s not just alcohol: When asked what they would give up if a safe FDA-approved treatment could add 10 healthy years to their lives, more than 20 percent also selected social media, sugar, and caffeine.

On the flip side, only 18 percent would give up air travel and 13 percent would give up their car or their current career. A mere 9 percent would be willing to leave their relationship in exchange for 10 more healthy years.

But the tradeoffs aren’t only personal. Living longer could also create new financial pressures. Most respondents (63 percent) said they were concerned about outliving their financial safety net—however, they’re not that eager to work longer. Only 16 percent said they would delay retirement to add 10 healthy years to their lives. That said, if humans could routinely live healthy lives past 120, 29 percent would find it acceptable to retire after 70.

(These 5 Simple Tests Can Reveal How Well Your Body Is Aging.)

What Anti-Aging Research Means for Society

In our September cover story, Nobel Prize-winning scientist Shinya Yamanaka, whose work led to cellular reprogramming, called for a societal dialogue about anti-aging research, pointing out that it “directly touches on fundamental issues for humanity, including societal balance, life, and death.”

The survey suggests Americans are indeed anxious about these issues. About two-thirds of respondents said they worry about the ethical risks of pursuing life-extending or age-reversing technologies, as a well as the possibility that such treatments would be available only for the extremely wealthy. Similarly, 62 percent believe governments shouldn’t be funding longevity research until basic healthcare is universally guaranteed.

Even with those concerns, many Americans still see potential benefits to dramatically longer lives. When asked if society would reap any benefits if anti-aging treatments allowed humans to live beyond 150 years, 41 percent of those surveyed said it would be very or somewhat beneficial, primarily citing the accumulated wisdom and extended contributions from older generations. However, a quarter of respondents disagreed, and their top worries are that society would face overpopulation and economic strain.

(What Germany Can Teach the World About Healthy Aging.)

And Americans are split on what our society should give up to avert those outcomes: 20 percent of respondents said they would accept higher taxes, another 20 percent would accept stricter limits on having children, and 13 percent said they would accept smaller social security or pension benefits in exchange for extending lifespan past 120. But a quarter said that no tradeoff would be acceptable.