Age Discrimination: A New Era

The implementation of age discrimination regulations in the UK in October 2006 year marked a significant step forward. For far too long the lobby against age discrimination has been the poor relation in the field of equality and diversity, and so this legislation is very much to be welcomed.

However, only a very naïve person would assume that the problems of age discrimination will soon be a thing of the past. As we have learned from other areas of anti-discrimination, the law is only one part of what needs to be a concerted effort to promote equality. The law is not enough on its own.

This is partly why these days we emphasise valuing diversity as well as promoting equality. The challenge is a much broader one than simply ensuring adherence to the law. A negative and defensive ‘don’t get into trouble’ approach brings many problems. Defensive approaches can easily mean that we ‘take our eye off the ball’ and lose sight of our priorities and our basic goals—we become distracted from our primary duties and concerns.

The new emphasis on age discrimination, then, should not be seen as yet another area of discrimination law to worry about, but rather as an opportunity to see what benefits are to be gained from having a  more positive approach to age diversity. Instead of falling foul of stereotypes of older people, we can develop our understanding of how their accumulated knowledge, experience and wisdom can be of benefit to us, both in the workplace and in the community at large.

Once we start to look beneath the surface, we start to see just how many misleading stereotypes there are about age, particularly old age. We clearly have a long way to go before we can say that we have a society that does not discriminate unfairly on the grounds of age.

First published in Well-being 1.1, December, 2006

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