Term Paper on "Elder Discrimination "Age Discrimination Occurs"

Term Paper 12 pages (3920 words) Sources: 10

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Elder Discrimination

"Age discrimination occurs when a decision is made on the basis of a person's age. In the workplace these are most often decisions about recruitment, promotion and dismissal… in societies that celebrate youthfulness above almost all else, it can be very difficult for even highly qualified professionals to find new positions after the age of 50. For male senior executives, the fear of age discrimination has led to an increasing demand for cosmetic surgery, but for most older workers there appears little they can do to resist being swept aside in favor of young replacements…" (Tan, 2009).

Aging brings with it physical problems, emotional issues, and it also brings bias and discrimination, as many older people have discovered -- and will discover. This paper brings to light -- through the literature -- many of the kinds of discrimination that elder people are being subjected to as they move into life's so-called "golden years." Indeed, because of the discrimination and negative stereotypes that older people are subjected to, their golden years are becoming tarnished. This paper offers evidence to back up those assertions, and in some cases the authors of the peer-reviewed articles in the literature offer remedies and suggestions to put an end to prejudice against older people.

Discrimination in the Workplace

Those millions of older adults that once thought retirement was going to be a joyous, wonderful experience, after all the years of hard work, raising a family and saving their earnings, are finding out that retirement is not an affordable option. But in fact, some 42 years after the U.S. Congress passed the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967, there is indeed age discrimination in the workplace and so while senior citizens need to continue working to avoid living in poverty, they are also being discriminated against in the process.

Authors Jessica Z. Rothenberg and Daniel S. Gardner have authored a peer-reviewed article on this issue, during which they examine the implications of this discrimination and offer potential solutions to end the bias. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) conducted a study in 2009, asking 767 adults age 45 and older if they are going to postpone their retirement, and 22% said yes they would postpone retiring. The AARP also asked (among the 767 interviewed) those between 55 and 64 about retirement plans and 27% of that age group said they would keep working well into typical retirement age (Rothenberg, 2011, p. 10).

And given the terrible condition of the economy at this time, including a depressed housing market and bleak credit opportunities, not to forget the big hit that Americans' pensions have taken, and the foreclosures and layoffs -- it is clear that more and more older people are going to need to work to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads.

But in the meantime, when older people most need protection from age bias in the workplace, the legislation alluded to above has not been very effective. First of all, the Act was authored and signed into law to "promote employment of older persons based on their ability rather than age," Rothenberg quotes from the law's narrative. The Act was also designed to "prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment" as well as help employers and employees "find ways of meeting problems arising from the impact of age on employment (Rothenberg, 10). That said, the ADEA has not done what it was designed to do, and to back up that assertion Rothenberg points to the fact that an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 reports of discrimination based on age are filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); in 2008, there were 24,500 reports of bias against senior citizens in the workplace, "an all time high," Rothenberg continues.

Clearly, employers are resisting hiring older people, but why? Rothenberg points to a meta-analysis (Kite, Stockdale, Whitley Jr., & Johnson) that documents the fact that there is widespread bias against older people per se. The bias is based on negative attitudes against "…elders' competence, attractiveness, and behavioral intentions" (Rothenberg, 11). Moreover, there are what Rothenberg calls "pernicious stereotypes" that haunt older workers; the older worker typically is seen as "senile, slow, unproductive, frail, and unable to 'learn new tricks'" and those unfair stereotypes are "widespread and intractable" (Rothenberg, 11). Hiring an older person is not in the cards for many employers because they believe older workers are "difficult to train, resistant to change, and less flexible and adaptable" than a younger worker (Rothenberg, 11).

Making maters worse for the typical older worker, the U.S. Supreme Court has not backed up the ADEA in favor of older people, and in fact has generally sided with employers when cases come before the High Court. In Smith v. City of Jackson, Mississippi, a case that came before the Court in 2005, the Justices ruled against the plaintiff, an older worker who believed he had been discriminated against because of his age. Justice Stevens wrote the opinion for the High Court and explained that "…certain employment criteria that are routinely used may be reasonable despite their adverse impact on older workers as a group" (Rothenberg, 21). The criteria that Stevens alluded to were basically that a younger worker was more appropriate for a specific job in that case. Rothenberg and Gardner believe that employers are discouraged from hiring older workers due to the "high costs" to employers "that increase as workers grow older." Hence, the authors believe that if the U.S. had a "comprehensive single-payer health care system" that removed the responsibility from the employer, and that would remove some of the bias against hiring older people. However, when the Obama Administration attempted to get legislation passed with a single-payer component, Congress resisted.

Rothenberg and Gardner also suggest new legislation to protect older people who want to and need to work, and the EEOC needs to "develop mechanisms to better monitor business employment practices," they conclude (24).

Technology in the Workplace and Older People

Author Neil Charness explains that there are some justifications for employers to be reticent to hire older people, particularly in situations where a lot of sophisticated technology is employed, and the technologies are being upgraded often. "For older workers, technology has both advantages and drawbacks," Charness explains (Charness, 2006, p. 26). For one, the good news is because of automation the need for "demanding physical labor" has been greatly diminished, hence older people with reduced physical skills have something of an advantage. Also, because of the development of sensor systems the need for workers to rely solely on their visual, aural, and other capacities "also diminish over time" (Charness, 26). The bad news for older workers is that new technologies demand "significant instruction and training" and that poses serious challenges for older workers.

Linking older workers with current and future technologies is a "central concern" of the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE), Charness goes on. Clearly the use of highly advanced technological systems depend largely upon "the extent to which the system demands can be met by the user's capabilities" (Charness, 27). In that context, and given the "normative" changes with the aging process (reduction in sensory, perceptual, psychomotor and cognitive capabilities) the older workers are clearly at a disadvantage "relative to their younger counterparts" (Charness, 27).

The question then becomes, is it fair for an employer to hire an alert, 20-something job candidate with vast experience in digital technologies, and turn down the application of a 55-year-old man with vast management experience but limited work with new technologies? The answer for many employers would be a resounding "yes," but for the older applicant who swears he is a quick learner, he may be justified in believing he was discriminated against based on his age.

Discrimination in the Justice System

The workplace isn't the only setting where older people are discriminated against. According to a peer-reviewed article in the journal Behavioral Sciences and the Law, research reveals discrimination against older people: a) that is associated with jurors that don't trust older people to make fair judgments; b) when it comes to good healthcare in prisons for elders' health problems; and c) when very old people are on death row, there are concerns from fair-minded individuals in the community about "…the constitutionality of executing frail elders" (Gaydon, et al., 2007).

The first item discussed by Gaydon is jury duty and the veracity of testimony by older people. The court system runs up against a dilemma when an older person is a potential witness, because many people (we're relating to jurors here) "have stereotypes of older people as unbelievable" (679). Specifically, jurors may believe that older peoples' memories are poor because the belief is that older people are all senile. That prejudice actually is based to some degree on true findings in the literature, Gaydon points out (679). For example, "several studies have shown that many older people's memories really are often less reliable than younger… READ MORE

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