According to a 2020 study funded by the European Union, the most prevalent form of discrimination is that of age discrimination. As far back as 1965, the U. S. government recognized the reality of age discrimination in the workplace and commissioned a lengthy study of the subject what was presented by the U. S. Secretary of Labor in June 1965. It is available online.
Below are some key references on the subject.
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EXCERPTS
2019 EXCERPT: The authors “argue that companies must bring older people back to work and give them meaningful, important jobs.” [Josh Bersin and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, ”The Case for Hiring Older Workers,” Harvard Business Review, Sep. 26, 2019.]
2017 CAPTION: It's not the passage of time that makes it so hard to get older. It's ageism, a prejudice that pits us against our future selves -- and each other. Ashton Applewhite urges us to dismantle the dread and mobilize against the last socially acceptable prejudice. "Aging is not a problem to be fixed or a disease to be cured," she says. "It is a natural, powerful, lifelong process that unites us all." [Ashton Applewhite, “Let's end ageism,” TED Talk. Aug 23, 2017, 11:37.]
2016 EXCERPT: In recent years, philanthropy has moved to an asset-based, rather than deficit-based, approach to many social issues. It’s a fundamental reframing based on the common-sense approach of building on strength. There will and should always be funders of basic services, but enlightened philanthropists now see, for example, the strengths and assets of Native culture, not just its poverty. Funders today work to empower people with disabilities, not simply provide charity to them. Why aren’t we expanding this approach to older adults? [Teresa Bonner (Dir. of Programs, Aroha Philanthropies, Minneapolis), “Philanthropy Should Focus on the Assets of Aging,” Philanthropy New York, Apr. 22, 2016.]
2016 EXCERPT: The book, Betrayed: The Legalization of Age Discrimination in the Workplace, explains why so many workers in their 40s, 50s and beyond are out of work, laboring in part-time or temp jobs, and forced into a financially ill-advised early retirement. Age discrimination in America is epidemic but it is hidden behind phrases like “long-term unemployment” and “early retirement.” Patricia G. Barnes, an attorney and former judge, examines the failure of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to protect older workers from epidemic age discrimination during and since the Great Recession. The ADEA offers far less protection from age discrimination than Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides to victims of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, color and national origin. [published 2016]
2016 ABSTRACT: It is beyond question that ageism plays an especially harmful role in the workplace. Older workers face ageist attitudes and age discrimination. Older worker stereotypes are so pervasive that older workers often just accept them as fact and integrate them into their self-concepts; these stereotypes may also affect the judgments and actions of organizational decision makers. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) aims to achieve age-neutral decisions by ensuring that hiring, promotion, training, education, and other personnel actions are not influenced by a person's age. The intent of the ADEA is to (a) promote employment of older persons based on their ability, (b) prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment, and (c) help employers and workers find ways to overcome problems arising from the impact of age on employment. The "graying of America" represents a major challenge to the social, political, medical, and economic structure of society. In the current chapter, we discuss issues that may lead to age discrimination and provide an overview of the ADEA. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) [Hedge, J. W., Borman, W. C., & Lammlein, S. E. (2006). Age stereotyping and age discrimination. In J. W. Hedge, W. C. Borman, & S. E. Lammlein, The aging workforce: Realities, myths, and implications for organizations (pp. 27–48). American Psychological Association.]
1965 EXCERPT : The report [14,000 words] presents recommendations for dealing with arbitrary discrimination in employment because of age and with the basic factors which impede the reemployment of displaced workers as they grow older. It also discusses measures which should be considered for the fuller use of the talents and time of older persons in private enterprise and in community service. [W. Willard Wirtz, U. S. Secretary of Labor, “The Older American Worker - Age Discrimination in Employment; Report Of The Secretary Of Labor To The Congress Under Section 715 Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1964; [online at U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission], Jun. 30, 1965.]
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REFERENCES
J. W. Hedge er al., “Age stereotyping and age discrimination.” pp. 27–48 in J. W. Hedge, W. C. Borman, & S. E. Lammlein, The Aging Workforce: Realities, Myths, And Implications For Organizations, American Psychological Association, 2006.
Richard L. Wiener, Steven L. Willborn (eds.), Disability and Aging Discrimination: Perspectives in Law and Psychology, Springer, 2010.
Ashton Applewhite, “Let's end ageism,” TED Talk. Aug 23, 2017, 11:37.
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Patricia G. Barnes, Betrayed: The Legalization of Age Discrimination in the Workplace, Patricia G. Barnes; Sep. 2, 2014.
"Well-researched and well-written ... [I]t is well worth the read," David Godfrey, Senior Attorney, The ABA Commission on Law and Aging.
This groundbreaking book explains why so many workers in their 40s, 50s and beyond are out of work, laboring in part-time or temp jobs, and forced into a financially ill-advised early retirement. Age discrimination in America is epidemic but it is hidden behind phrases like “long-term unemployment” and “early retirement.”
Patricia G. Barnes, an attorney and former judge, examines the failure of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to protect older workers from epidemic age discrimination during and since the Great Recession. The ADEA offers far less protection from age discrimination than Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides to victims of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, color and national origin.
Weak to begin with, the ADEA was further eviscerated by the U.S. Supreme Court. Just as the worst recession in 100 years was unfolding, the Court in 2009 issued a ruling making it far more difficult for older workers to prevail in age discrimination lawsuits. Congress easily could have “fixed” the problem but a proposed bill to do so has languished in committee for eight years and counting. Meanwhile, former President Barack H. Obama signed an executive order in 2010 permitting the nation’s largest employer – the federal government – to engage in age discrimination in hiring.
How could Baby Boomers, themselves the architect of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, find themselves in this sorry predicament? Part of the answer is undoubtedly linked to the deeply rooted nature of ageism, including subconscious fear of ill health and decline.
Whatever the reason, as the ADEA turns 50 in 2017, a generation of older workers - particularly women – is careening toward an impoverished retirement.
Ms. Barnes is the editor of AgeDiscriminationinEmplyment.com [defunct], a blog dedicated to chronicling legal developments pertaining to age discrimination. She also is the author of Overcoming Age Discrimination in Employment, as well as Surviving Bullies, Queen Bees & Psychopaths in the Workplace (2012) and Zen and the Difficult Workplace (2013). She wrote two books for CQ Press about the American court system and criminal justice systems, respectively, that are held in libraries around the world.
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