I agree this is a potential concern.

As it happens, since 2020, the community has continued to age. As of the end of last year, it's median 31, mean 22.4, and we can see that it has steadily aged across years.

It's clear that a key contributor to our age distribution is the age at which people first get involved with EA, which is median 24, mean 26.7, but the age at which people first get involved has also increased over time.

I think people sometimes point to our outreach focusing on things like university groups to explain this pattern. But I think this is likely over-stated, as this accounts for only a small minority of our recruiting, and most of the ways people first hear about EA seems to be more passive mechanisms, not tied to direct outreach, which would be accessible to people at older ages (we'll discuss this in more detail in the 2024 iteration of this post). 

That said, different age ranges do appear to have different levels of awareness of EA, with highest awareness seeming to be at the 25-34 or 35-44 age ranges. (Though our sample size is large, the number of people who we count as aware of EA are very low, so you can see these estimates are quite uncertain. Our confidence in these estimates will increase as we run more surveys). This suggests that awareness of EA may be reaching different groups unevenly, which could partly contribute to lower engagement from older age groups. But this need not be the result of differences in our outreach. It could result from different levels of interest from the different groups.

As someone who heard from EA at age 40 and is now 50, this question comes up often in discussions with more experienced professionals. I wrote about my personal journey, which I couldn't have done without the luxury of much free time to learn and explore in this space. A recent post by Jim Chapman also describes the effort that can be needed to transition into the space.

In my local group, I'm mostly the oldest participant, as many other people my age don't feel very welcome in a group of younger people. They mostly also see donations as their pathway to contributing, which doesn't require the level of involvement in the community that people with career ambitions have. The group is simply less useful in an instrumental way; the same applies to EA conferences.

In organizations, the hiring process can sometimes be more focused on younger candidates. Some organizations prioritize a strong alignment of values, which involves cultivating hard-to-fake signals such as investing in networking, volunteering, attending conferences and retreats, and making a pledge that may present a significant challenge for individuals with family responsibilities. 

The first time I applied for jobs was in my late 40s in EA organizations, as I was previously accustomed to networking and receiving invitations for work opportunities. Completing work trials under time pressure often seemed tailored to those with more fluid intelligence, which is typically higher in younger individuals, as opposed to the crystallized intelligence that develops later in life. 

Sometimes, experienced professionals will vent how they were invited to a job and then had to start at the first stage, how they were treated unprofessionally in the hiring process, or even when they start how their expertise is not valued in an organization led by people with little prior leadership experience. This can lead to losing out on more experienced people. (At Successif, we help mid-career and more senior people navigate these challenges in the area of AI risk).

This leads me to the question if EA is the right place for more senior people. When I talk to people my age about impact, I'm more likely to recommend the donation opportunities at Effektiv Spenden, the 10% Pledge, or the book Moral Ambition for career inspiration than the global or national EA websites. While I often enjoy being the oldest person and spending much time in deep discussions with philosophically minded people 20 years my junior, I expect this to be the exception. People with families and busy jobs are probably looking for a quick way to shift their focus and connect to people. at a similar point in their life Other services and brands are probably now better suited to cater to this need than EA.

Walking around the conference halls this February at EAG Global in the Bay Area, the average age seemed to be in the mid-20s or so.

The average age of EAG Bay Area 2025 feedback survey respondents was 30, FYI. 

I don't think this removes the thrust of your questions, which I think are good and important questions, but people do seem to consistently underestimate the average age of EA Global attendees.

One project aimed at mid-career people: https://www.successif.org/our-work

I expect that some of the older EA's are more senior and therefore have more responsibilities competing against attending EA Global.

I expect there are some cohort effects (people in more recent generations have a higher probability of being involved).  In particular, many people get into EA via university groups (although it may not be the place they 'first heard' about it; see David Moss' reply), and these groups have only been around a decade or so. 

But I also imagine some pure age effects (as people age they leave/are less likely to enter), perhaps driven by things like 

1. Homophily/identity/herding: If you only see people unlike you (agewise) you're less likely to think you belong. This leads to inertia. 

2. Cost and family priorities: EA ~expects/encourages people to donate a substantial share of their income, or do directly impactful work (which may be less remunerative or secure). For older people the donation share/lost income could seem more substantial, esp. if they are used to their lifecycle. Or probably more significantly, for parents it may be harder to do what seems like 'taking money away from their children. 

3. Status and prestige issues: EA leaders tend to be young, EA doesn't value seniority or credentials as much (which is probably a good thing). But older people might feel ~disrespected by this. Or second order: they might think that their age-peers and colleagues will think less of them if they are following or 'taking direction' from ~'a bunch of kids'. E.g., as a jr. professor at an academic conference if you are seated at the grad students' table you might feel insecure.

4. Issues and expertise that are relevant tends to be 'new stuff' that older people won't have learned or won't be familiar with. AI Safety is the biggest one, but there are other examples like Bayesian approaches.

(Identity politics bit: I'm 48 years old, and some of this is based on my own impressions, but not all of it.)
 

Some rough ideas- 1.For older people, it's harder to change their career path to something like AI safety. However, they could still do earn to give(But unfortunately, EtG is less discussed in EA recently)

2.The cost of turning values: It'd be harder for people over 40 to change their value systems they hold for years to completely EA value systems. For me, since I touched EA at 15 so I don't have this problem.

It’s encouraging to see more conversations like this happening. There’s real value in weaving our decades of lived experience, professional know-how and long-view perspective into EA’s ambitious vision. Older participants still have a lot of skin in the game and a strong desire to help shape the future. I know I do!

I’ve never felt judged for my age personally, nor would I judge others. I’ve met EAers of all ages who are genuinely welcoming and curious. But not everyone experiences it that way. I can imagine some older people taking one look at the sea of 20-somethings and thinking, “Maybe this isn’t for me.” Not because they don’t care, but because they feel out of place or even a bit scared to step into a space that seems to belong to another generation.

I’ve found spaces like HIP's Impact Accelerator Program (High Impact Professionals) to a great way to engage and learn more about EA. Aimed at mid-career or senior professionals looking to use their careers for more good, they’ve created a thoughtful, age-inclusive community where everyone is encouraged to contribute from where they are in life. (FYI: The next round starts in June. Find more information and FAQs here: https://bit.ly/498iBkm)

I'll be attending EAG London and so will help shift the average age :)! I look forward to meeting a diverse range of people!

Here are a few reasons off the top of my head:

• The movement is still young. People introduced in college are still only in their mid-30s.
• Generational differences in moral partiality vs. impartiality. Moral impartiality is still not widely accepted.
• Age discrimination
• A good amount of funding is geared towards those coming out of post-grad.
• Technological advances are typically adopted by the younger generations first (AI risk).
• Being underprepared for retirement. Not everyone can (or wants to) be subject to a decrease in compensation, especially in years where retirement savings need to be accumulated.