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Age Discrimination: What's Going On Out Here?


Ageism is another way of saying "age discrimination," which the federal government defines as "...treating someone (an applicant or an employee) less favorably because of his or her age. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) forbids age discrimination against people who are age 40 or older.  It does not protect workers under age 40, although some states do have laws that do protect younger workers from this. Interestingly enough, it is not illegal for an employer or other covered entity to favor an older worker over a younger one, even if they both are 40 and over.

"Boomers account for the fastest-growing segment of workplace discrimination claims, which are on the rise. In 2012, 22,875 people filed age discrimination claims with the federal Equal Opportunity Commission, compared with 15,875 in 1997. So we are feeling the heat. But what are we doing about it, other than file lawsuits?" (1)

"Based on a conceptual analysis of ageism, a new definition of ageism was introduced by Iversen, Larsen and Solem in 2009. This definition constitutes the foundation for higher reliability and validity in future research about ageism and its complexity offers a new way of systematizing theories on ageism: 'Ageism is defined as negative or positive stereotypes, prejudice and/or discrimination against (or to the advantage of) elderly people on the basis of their chronological age or on the basis of a perception of them as being ‘old’ or ‘elderly.' Ageism can be implicit or explicit and can be expressed on a micro-, meso- or macro-level "(2).

Everyday the number of Americans 60 years old and older is growing, but society still isn't embracing aging as a popular attribute. And this is mainly a Western cultural deficit.  If anything, this may be more incipient in nature — everyone seems to look the other way, and the psychological affect of ageism is a serious detriment on the population.

"Not only are negative stereotypes hurtful to the population, but they may even shorten lives," finds psychologist Becca Levy, PdD, assistant professor of public health at Yale University. In Levy's longitudinal study of 660 people 50 years and over, she states that those with a positive self-image despite their age are likely to live 7.5 years longer than those that don't." (3)

The most amazing thing to me about all of this is the way the general population deals with this. Or the way they don't.  When my last employer laid me off after 15 years of excellent service — I was asked to clear out my things like a ship that passed in the night.  No good-bye party, no thank you, Bob, for all of the hard work that you've done. Just see you later and don't let the door hit you on the way out. I honestly think that is part of this whole process, too, looking the other way, when it happens, or, pretending like it isn't happening at all.  

I think that age discrimination and the law around it, is as "sticky" a subject as inside trader infractions.  It's very similar in that it is very hard to prove, and yet you know it is going on.  Metaphorically, think about both.  There's such a good deal of grey area that exists within both issues, so it is hard to figure out where the line is drawn.

According to AARP (4, all 6 bullets): 
  • 66% of experienced workers over the age of 50 say they have seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace, and most of them say it’s common
  • Of those who say they have seen or experienced age discrimination, many (58%) say they believe it begins in their 50s
  • The same survey also found, however, that a majority (75%) of employed older workers said their age had not caused their employer to treat them differently from other workers
  • That may be because people don’t perceive different treatment in general, said Jean Setzfand, vice president of financial security for AARP. But when they consider specific circumstances in which their age may have been a factor in their careers, their perception actually changes
  • 20% of those surveyed said they had not gotten a job they applied for because of age
  • 12%  said they were passed up for a promotion; and 9% said they were laid off or fired, or denied access to training opportunities because of their age
The above findings come from AARP, a nonprofit group that advocates for people over 50, where they surveyed 1,500+ adults age 45 to 74 by telephone in November and December, 2012. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3% points.  

Within the AARP article there was a list of employers that are especially friendly to older workers. I looked at the list,  and was amazed of how so few regional Northeast employers are on it.  It's actually quite shocking for a more liberal part of the country. Go figure.

I have read several articles about ageism in the workplace and sadly, this is now beginning to happen to folks in their 40's — when their salaries are starting to get so high that it makes sense to let them go in order to hire two less experienced younger workers at much lower salary rates with better health dispositions and odds.

Another big thing that I think is worth looking at, and it's not so much discrimination as it is bad policy (and I will write about in a future blog), and that is what I call the "blanket effect" due to the robo-readers human resource departments employ.  They screen resumes these days using "filters" that they put into these readers. Someone's technical experience and capability is very varied from individual to individual, and it is very difficult to pass through these readers. My feeling is they assume you are a Luddite if you are over 45, which is ironic because we were the ones who started the internet.
    Other data supports workers’ perceptions about age discrimination, Ms. Setzfand (5) said that the average duration of unemployment, for instance, is significantly longer for older workers. As of April, it was 50.2 weeks for workers 55 and older against 36.9 weeks for those under 55. This was recently substantiated in Massachusetts, according to a recent Mass DUA spokesperson.

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    (1) Older Workers Say Age Bias Is Common; NYTimes: By Ann Carrns, May 8, 2013.
    (2) Ageism. (2013, July 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:09, July 28, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ageism&oldid=563627789
    (3) A study in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Volume 83, No. 2)
    (4) Older Workers Say Age Bias Is Common; NYTimes: By Ann Carrns, May 8, 2013
    (5) "Act Your Age? Not if You Hope to Escape Age Discrimination," Time Magazine, July 24, 2013.

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