Ageism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Age discrimination is a prejudice against a certain individual or group because of their age. This includes any assumption of familiarity or sameness due to one's age.
Age discrimination can refer to prejudice against any age group soley on the grounds of age:
- Young people, by calling them immature, insubordinate and irresponsible. This form of discrimination is called Adultism; an extreme fear of adolescents is called Ephebiphobia.
- Middle-aged people, by addressing them as "out-of-touch" or "indifferent" (as evidenced by the television show "Thirtysomething").
- Parents, by assuming their disconnectedness and Adultist tendencies.
- The elderly, by calling them slow, weak, dependent and senile.
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[edit] Examples
[edit] Age discrimination
Age discrimination in employment may differ somewhat from race and gender discrimination, in that it does not usually take the form of wage discrimination. Older workers, on average, make more than younger workers do. Firms may be afraid to offer older workers lower wages than younger workers. Instead they will simply not promote or not hire an older worker. They may also encourage early retirement or layoff disproportionately older/more experienced workers.
In the US, each state may have its own law governing age discrimination. In California, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act governs age discrimination with respect to persons over the age of 40. The FEHA is the principal California statute prohibiting employment discrimination covering employers, labor organizations, employment agencies, apprenticeship programs and any person or entity who aids, abets, incites, compels, or coerces the doing of a discriminatory act. In addition to Age, it prohibits employment discrimination based on race or color; religion; national origin or ancestry, physical disability; mental disability or medical condition; marital status; sex or sexual orientation; and pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
The Federal Government governs age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. The ADEA prohibits employment discrimination based on age with respect to employees 40 years of age or older as well. The ADEA also addresses the difficulty older workers face in obtaining new employment after being displaced from their jobs, arbitrary age limits. The ADEA applies even if some of the minimum 20 employees are overseas and working for a US Corporation, Morelli v. Cedel (2nd Cir. 1998) 141 F3d 39, 45.
Although, like all forms of discrimination, age discrimination has always been a problem, it is most severe at present in the entertainment and computer industries. Many elderly actors, musicians, scriptwriters, programmers, and electrical engineers have all complained that it is difficult for them to find work, even though they are well-qualified in terms of education and experience.
Age discrimination in hiring has been shown to exist in the United States. Joanna Lahey, Economics professor at Texas A&M, found that firms are more than 40% more likely to interview a younger job applicant than an older job applicant [1].
In a survey for the University of Kent, England, 29% of respondents stated that they had suffered from age discrimination. This is a higher proportion than for gender or race discrimination. Dominic Abrams, Social Psychology professor at the University, concluded that ageism is the most pervasive form of prejudice experienced in the UK population. Here is an Age Concern survey: How Ageist is Britain? (PDF).
In a recent interview, famed actor Pierce Brosnan cited ageism as one of the contributing factors as to why he was not cast as James Bond in the Bond film Casino Royale, released in 2006 [2].
[edit] Responses
[edit] Grass-roots activism
Many groups have been set up in various countries to combat age discrimination, including:
- United States
- Americans for a Society Free from Age Restrictions
- Gray Panthers: In the early 1970s, Maggie Kuhn formed the Gray Panthers, an organization with a goal of eliminating ageism in all forms.
- National Youth Rights Association
[edit] Unions
Many unions have thrown themselves into the battle against age discrimination. At present, the most prominent example is the Writers Guild of America West, which since 2002 has been waging a huge legal battle against much of the entertainment industry to get rid of the age discrimination commonly faced by elder scriptwriters.
[edit] Laws
Some countries enact laws against age discrimination, including:
[edit] Accusations of Ageism
- The television show Thirtysomething has been singled out for being ageist towards middle-aged adults.
[edit] Related -isms
Jeunism is the tendency to prefer younger candidates over equally or even better qualified older ones, as tends to happen e.g. in politics or certain commercial functions, in a cultural environment that admires the vitality and physical beauty of youth, while the actual functions rather require moral or intellectual qualities.
[edit] External links
[edit] Further reading
- 2005 issue of the Journal of Social Issues Thematic journal issue devoted to empirical and theoretical research on ageism.
- Ageism In America Detailed report on ageism from the International Longevity Center.
- Ageism: Stereotyping and Prejudice Against Older Persons Edited scholarly volume of the latest research and theory on Ageism.
- [3]
- An in-depth look at ageism by Linda M. Woolfe, Ph.D., of Webster University
- Everyone deserves to be given a chance An essay against ageism towards teenagers, written by a Canadian adolescent.
