Age discrimination in the workplace

Recent research has revealed that ageist attitudes are endemic in the workplace. The Government may be encouraging older people to work longer, but Britain’s young adults want them out of the workplace.

New findings from home and care provider, Anchor, reveal that 41% of young Britons aged 18-24 years believe there aren’t enough jobs for older people to be in work and 14% claim older people should retire to make way for younger blood.

Despite the default retirement age of 65 ending this year, as far as young people are concerned you hit the old age mark when you reach 62. One fifth believe the over 60s are slower and are less productive than their junior counterparts, with one in 20 claiming they should be paid less because they work at a slower pace. 

To tackle the misconceptions held by the young, Anchor is launching ‘Grey Pride’, a nationwide petition to 10 Downing Street calling for Britain to follow the lead of Ireland and Canada and have a dedicated older people’s minister to champion the over-60s at the highest level.