Ageism and public policies: research on age discrimination at the societal level

Human ageing is not solely the biological process of senescence, but is shaped also by ageism - socially shared beliefs about ageing, old age, and older people. Between cultures and societies there are substantial differences in the extent of ageism, especially in respect to negative age stereotypes and age discrimination. There is not a single pattern of factors which accounts for these cultural and societal differences, however. Culture-specific values, demographic composition, and degree of societal modernization are relevant for country differences in ageism. Countries differ also in respect to public and social policies in terms of “age friendliness”, that is, protecting older people from age discrimination. Empirical research on the effectiveness on anti-ageism regulation is scarce, however. It is discussed what kind of research is needed to expand the evidence basis on the relationship between public policies and ageism.