Age and Age Discrimination

A Facebook comment was clear: "The only thing that makes me happy is that one day you will be more than 45 years old!". Indignant because most commentators accused her of excessive political correctness and shared stereotypical lessons about lifelong learning, improving knowledge and skills, and working on their own competitiveness… In this particular case, Facebook's rule was elegantly circumvented because technically it is not advertising for an open job, but an employer branding campaign. The debate, however, revealed the sad state of the generation gap in the digital and tech industries. The author of the post tried to explain to critics that she feels invisible and excluded, and in response, she received some remarks, that instead of complaining that companies exclude her from advertising, she visits their websites regularly if she really wants to find a job. How easy it is not to recognize exclusivity when you are involved in everything and the whole world always turns to you!

Age affects the social roles, status, influence, and responsibility of an individual in society, and often the perception of one's physical, mental, and even intellectual capabilities. In view of this, high age often influences the formation of negative attitudes and actions that are unacceptable in relation to other age groups and as such can lead to decisions that constitute age discrimination.

From the aspect of age discrimination, the introduction of a fee for withdrawing cash at counters in bank branches can also be observed. Although its introduction is not in conflict with regulations, many national banks have recognized the importance of providing a free channel for raising money for all citizens, especially the elderly, the sick, people with disabilities, or the illiterate. However, despite the recommendation sent to the banks, the benefit has not been abolished, although the payment of pensions, as well as salaries, is possible only through accounts, which means that even the poorest must pay numerous bank fees. It is also neglected that some ATM services are not even available, while the amounts that can be withdrawn at once are limited and the ATM network is not even, which, as potential multiple discrimination, again affects the elderly, the disabled, and the infirm. 

Like other vulnerable groups, young people are as well exposed to age discrimination in many areas of life. They are often exposed to multiple discrimination that includes race or ethnicity, wealth or social origin, social status, and other discriminatory grounds. Given that there are many reasons why discrimination is not reported, such as fear of consequences, distrust of institutions, or acceptance of the current situation, the relatively small number of complaints of age discrimination against young people does not indicate its actual presence in society. The survey on attitudes and the level of awareness about discrimination and its manifestations indicates that young people are highly exposed to prejudice and that 2.7% of them have been exposed to some form of discrimination.

Given the observed demographic trends in many European countries but also in Türkiye, the challenge is public policies towards young people in rural areas who face many challenges, from lack of traffic and poor data connectivity and unavailability of high-speed Internet, the absence of additional educational, cultural or sports programs, to poor employment and self-employment opportunities, which should also be taken into account when decisions are made to close public transport lines, shut down businesses or close schools.

Success on the development path depends more on family support and resources than on socially created opportunities, which often do not benefit young people. The level of education is significantly related to the financial situation of the household. The growing flexibility of the labor market and the growth of precarious forms of work directly affect the likelihood that young people will change jobs more often and enter the circle of low-paid and short-term employment, while almost half of employees do not have a secure job, work longer and receive lower pay. Than average, which affects their position in society and favors discrimination. Most young people believe that successful employment requires connections with people in positions of power and successful friends rather than a higher level of education, so it is not surprising that they pointed out the reduction of unemployment, economic growth and development, and the struggle as the main goal of the government, against crime and corruption. All of these consist of the problem of ageism and we should raise awareness that it is discrimination, rather than a natural state of affairs we have to follow.