Tackling Ageism in Employment: Age the Final Frontier of Discrimination?

Ageism is discrimination or prejudice against people on the grounds of their age and can affect the young, middle-aged or elderly. Ageism like all discrimination against individuals or groups stereotypes people, as having certain characteristics, or behaviours, based solely on their date of birth. Discrimination on the grounds of age can take place between individuals, within and between groups, in organisations, in communities, and in society-at-large. An elderly person, for example, may typically stereotype younger persons as being ‘immature’, ‘irresponsible’ or ‘reckless.’ Similarly, a young person may typically stereotype older persons as being ‘inflexible’, ‘old fashioned’ or ‘forgetful.’ Age discrimination takes place in different economic and social milieux. For example, it can occur in the provision and supply of goods and services, access to public services, and at work. Some providers of goods and services, for example, discriminate against their customers on the grounds of age, such as in motor car insurance premiums for the young or health care insurance premiums for the elderly. Public services may discriminate against individuals or groups on the grounds of age too, such as in access to certain types of medical care and treatment for health conditions. Also, when taking employment decisions, employers may discriminate against individuals or groups on the grounds of age in recruitment and selection, payment, promotion, the provision of training, selection for redundancy and so on.