Ageism can limit our work, health, and who is valued; yet age discrimination legislation doesn’t always offer strong protection.
This is because age is treated differently from other protected characteristics in equality law, and current aspects of the legislation mean that certain types of age discrimination can be ‘justified’.
The Equality Act 2010 has driven significant progress and offers vital protection for many. But does its current framing of age risk promoting the message that ageism is more acceptable than other prejudices? Does its framing have both a real, and symbolic, effect in devaluing age, ageism and its harmful effects?
Our short report aims to highlight the weaknesses in existing approaches to age discrimination, and examine whether it could be improved to protect us all as we grow older.
