Widespread age discrimination

Research by the charity the Centre for Ageing Better has found that half of adults aged over 50 in England experienced age discrimination in the last year.

For people in their 50s and 60s, this happened most commonly in work (37 per cent), while for people over 70, it was most keenly felt on social media, television, movies, or news reports (44 per cent), as a consumer (43 per cent) and in health or social care settings (29 per cent).

Other key findings included the following:

• One in three people aged over 50 believe they have been turned down for a job because of their age. 
• One in five employers believe that age discrimination occurs in their organisation. 
• Older applicants are less likely to be hired and once employed, less likely to receive training.
• Ageism has a detrimental impact on the workforce - 460,000 people aged 50-64 are currently out of work but would like to be in work and ageism is one of the key barriers they face.

With at least a third of people holding ageist beliefs, and many likely not realising that they do, the charity has launched a campaign calling on the nation to change the way we think about ageing for the benefit of everyone.

The campaign makes the case that ageism, whilst often dismissed as being harmless, is detrimental to the lives of millions of people, impacting their opportunities, livelihoods, health, and mental well-being.

This has a knock-on effect on our productivity and the economy. As our population is rapidly ageing, ageism can potentially cause significant harm to society in the future.

The charity is working with the government and employers to create the right conditions for more people over 50 to be in fulfilling work. It has developed a range of resources including a five-point guide to help employers create age-friendly workplaces.

To read about the campaign in more detail, click here.

To read more about what the charity does to minimise age discrimination at work, click here.