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Saturday, March 05, 2011

Europe: Survey Shows Age Most Widely Experienced Discrimination

Age UK has released results of a survey showing that age discrimination is rife in Europe. Some 64% of those interviewed in the UK and 44.4% across Europe judged age discrimination as a serious problem, making it the most widely experienced form of discrimination. Even though there is heightened awareness of ageism as an issue, the European Social Survey (ESS) data analysed for Age UK by the University of Kent shows that people in later life continue to face many subtle forms of prejudice which perpetuate the idea of older people as passive, needy and frail.
Employment is an area where age discrimination is a huge problem, despite recent legislation tackling the issue. The majority of those interviewed said they would find it easier to accept a suitably qualified 30-year-old as a boss than a 70-year-old with exactly the same qualifications. People over 50 felt extremely concerned that employers would always prefer to hire a person in their 20s rather than an older person. In the UK 49.7 per cent of those interviewed cited this as a problem.
Among other things, the report warned that subtler types of prejudice are as harmful as overt discrimination as they make it difficult for older people to feel empowered and able to assert their preferences and choices.

Source: Age UK News Release (March 3, 2011)

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