March 19, 2021

Andrew Campbell 

Ageism is a worldwide threat to health, social and legal systems and even economy. Millions of people, both young and old, are influenced in getting a job or health care. 

A 2020 study in the United States showed that ageism led to unnecessary annual costs of $63 billion. A report from Australia also estimates that if the bosses hire 5% more people aged 55 or older, they can gain 48 billion Australian dollars ($37 billion) more on the national economy annually.

Based on the survey from the World Health Organization, Oxford University, and University of Southern California published by Swiss-based MDPI, younger, male, and lower-educated people tend to have high ageism attitude. 

Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, mentioned that age prejudice and discriminations had damaged our dignity and rights but we were not aware of it at all. For example, both older and younger people are vulnerable in many workplaces. Older people gradually lose training opportunities. The voice of young people in the topics related with health, housing, and politics is often declined or dismissed.

During the pandemic, the phenomenon of ageism becomes more serious. For example, age is a criterion to decide whether patients receive medical care and treatment. Moreover, countries attempting to recover from the pandemic will confront various types of age discrimination and prejudice. Younger workers might need to work harder to get job. Older workers will face the problem of workforce reduction. 

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director-general, mentioned that during the phase of recovery from pandemic, we should ensure the rights of people’s health, well-being and dignity. Ageism should not influence these rights. 

To improve ageism, the report of UN indicated that it is important to release an accurate policy and laws to fix the misconceptions. It is time for us to unite together to create a movement to change the idea of age discrimination . 

Photo:Webshot.