Ageism

International Review of Age Discrimination Policies Released

—SPEAK YOUR MIND—

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May 1, 2008—Recognizing age discrimination as a barrier to the basic necessities of life, the International Federation on Ageing (IFA) has completed a report entitled “Age-Related Policies: A Global Review on Age Discrimination Legislation,” which reviews age discrimination across eight countries: Argentina, Australia,Canada, Jamaica, Japan, South Africa, United Kingdom, and the United States.

A "Youth-Obsessed Society"

Each nation is profiled, with a discussion of the legislation currently in place, remedial measures available, and the political context in which it was developed. It also notes general trends across the selected countries. In the United States section, the authors state that America is a "youth-obsessed society," where old-age is an unattractive and disrespected status. They point out that ageism has generated neither the outrage nor the attention that sexism and racism have, noting that "A recent Google search for the three "isms" yielded 65.3 million hits for racism, 9.7 million for sexism, and fewer than 1.2 million for ageism."

"A recent Google search for the three "isms" yielded 65.3 million hits for racism, 9.7 million for sexism, and fewer than 1.2 million for ageism." ~ Age-Related Policies: A Global Review on Age Discrimination Legislation

Ageism An Economic Issue

The report pays most attention to employment-based age discrimination, since that has been the focus of most legal action and research in the United States. Even so, in contrast to the European Union, the aging workforce is not as high on the public policy agenda in the United States. Age discrimination in the United States, the report's author concludes, is viewed more as an economic issue than a civil rights issue.

ILC-USA Research Cited

Citing information from our publication Ageism in America, older persons are also consistently underserved when it comes to emergency services, such as after 9/11 and during Hurricane Katrina, the report says. And quoting research from our report The Need for Drug Safety- The Older Person and Ageism, the report points out that older persons are more often than not excluded from clinical trials, even for therapies intended for their own age group.

Specific recommendations for developing new policies are beyond the scope of the IFA's report. However, it is their belief that advocacy and policy change will be most effective with a strong body of knowledge on current policies and practices. As such, we commend them for a thorough aggregation and up-to-date review of the legislation as it stands.

Click here to visit the IFA's Age Discrimination section, where you can download copies of the International Symposium report, as well as the individual reports on the eight profiled countries.

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