Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-r5zm4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-03T12:53:18.421Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The dangers and limitations of equality agendas as means for tackling old-age prejudice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2008

COLIN DUNCAN
COLIN DUNCAN*
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh Business School, Scotland.
*
Address for correspondence: Colin Duncan, Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations, University of Edinburgh Business School, William Robertson Building, 50 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JY, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper presents a critique of both the concept of age equality and of the limited scope it offers as a means for challenging old-age prejudice. The equality constructs that feature in anti-ageism initiatives and in current discourses on intergenerational equity have proved susceptible to political and ideological manipulation, which has led to the illegitimate dissociation of ageism from older age and promoted damaging notions of age equivalence. The consequence has been that old-age prejudice has been de-prioritised, and older people have been de-legitimised socially and as a welfare constituency. The corrective is best sought outside the confines of age equality frameworks, although legal remedies may play a useful role if human dignity is incorporated as an equality criterion. This paper also assesses other approaches to tackling old-age prejudice that avoid the constraints of equality constructs and engage more firmly with its roots. The notion of the ‘third age’ with new social roles merits reconsideration as an affordable alternative to current policies of work obligation and pension retrenchment. Radical interventions in the labour market in favour of older people may also be needed. Age activism and advocacy will increasingly influence policy on prejudice and well-being in older age, but changed emphases are needed, as from defensive strategies and the ideologies of generational interdependence and solidarity, towards the promotion of organisational, financial and social autonomy in older age.

Keywords

ageismagelessnessequalityintergenerational solidarityold agethird agefourth age
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 28 , Issue 8 , November 2008 , pp. 1133 - 1158
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Age Concern England 1998. Age Discrimination: Make it a Thing of the Past. Age Concern England, London.Google Scholar
Age Concern England 1999. Values and Attitudes in an Ageing Society. Millennium Papers, Age Concern England, London.Google Scholar
Age Positive Website 2006. Frequently Asked Questions. Age Positive, London. Available online at www.agepositive.gov.uk/template2.cfm?sectionid=55 [Accessed 17 January 2006].Google Scholar
Andrews, M. 1999. The seductiveness of agelessness. Ageing & Society, 19, 3, 301–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrews, M. 2000. Ageful and proud. Ageing & Society, 20, 6, 791–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beatty, C. and Fothergill, S. 2004. Moving Older People into Jobs: Jobcentre Plus, New Deal and the Job Shortfall for the Over 50s. Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.Google Scholar
Ben-Israel, G. and Ben-Israel, R. 2002. Senior citizens: social dignity, status and the right to representative freedom of organization. International Labour Review, 141, 3, 253–74.Google Scholar
Biggs, S. 1993. Understanding Ageing: Images, Attitudes and Professional Practice. Open University Press, Buckingham.Google Scholar
Biggs, S. 2005. Beyond appearances: perspectives on identity in later life and some implications for method. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 60, 3, B118–28.Google Scholar
Bosanquet, N. and Gibbs, B. 2005. Class of 2005. The IPOD Generation – Insecure, Pressured, Over-taxed and Debt-ridden. Reform, London.Google Scholar
Butler, F. 2006. Rights for Real: Older People, Human Rights and the CEHR. Age Concern England, London.Google Scholar
Butler, R. N. 1995. Ageism. In Maddox, G. L. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Aging. Springer Publishing Company, New York, 38–9.Google Scholar
Bytheway, B. 1995. Ageism. Open University Press, Buckingham.Google Scholar
Campbell, N. 1999. The Decline of Employment Among Older People in Britain. CASE Paper 19, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, London.Google Scholar
Cole, T. 1992. The Journey of Life: A Cultural History of Aging in America. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Cole, T. and Stevenson, D. 1999. The meaning of aging and the future of social security. Generations, 23, 4, 72–76.Google Scholar
Commission of the European Communities 2005. Confronting Demographic Change: A New Solidarity Between the Generations. Green Paper COM (2005) 94, Commission of the European Communities, Brussels.Google Scholar
Cully, M., O'Reilly, A., Millward, N., Forth, J., Woodland, S., Dix, G. and Bryson, A. 1998. The 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey: First Findings. Department of Trade and Industry, London.Google Scholar
Daniels, N. 1988. Am I My Parents' Keeper? An Essay on Justice Between the Old and Young. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) 1999. Age Diversity in Employment: Code of Practice. DfEE, London.Google Scholar
Department for Education and Employment 2001. Ageism: Attitudes and Experiences of Young People. DfEE, London.Google Scholar
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 2003. Equality and Diversity: Age Matters, Age Consultation 2003 –Summary of Responses. DTI, London.Google Scholar
Department of Trade and Industry 2004. Fairness For All: A New Commission for Equality and Human Rights. Cm 6185. Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Department of Trade and Industry 2005. Equality and Diversity: Coming of Age. Consultation on the Draft Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, DTI, London.Google Scholar
Disability Rights Commission 2006. Initial Submission to the Discrimination Law Review. Disability Rights Commission, London.Google Scholar
Duncan, C. 2001. Ageism, early exit, and the rationality of age-based discrimination. In Glover, I. and Branine, M. (eds) Ageism in Work and Employment. Ashgate, Aldershot, Hampshire, 25–46.Google Scholar
Duncan, C. and Loretto, W. 2004. Never the right age? Gender and age-based discrimination in employment. Gender, Work and Organization, 11, 1, 95–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falkingham, J. and Johnson, P. 1995. Funding pensions over the life cycle. In Falkingham, J. and Hills, J. (eds) The Dynamic of Welfare: The Welfare State and the Life Cycle. Prentice Hall, London, 204–17.Google Scholar
Featherstone, M. and Hepworth, M. 1995. Images of positive aging: a case study of Retirement Choice magazine. In Featherstone, M. and Wernick, A. (eds) Images of Aging: Cultural Representations of Later Life. Routledge, London, 29–47.Google Scholar
Fredman, S. 2003. The age of equality. In Fredman, S. and Spencer, S. (eds) Age as an Equality Issue. Hart, Oxford, 21–69.Google Scholar
Gibson, H. 2000. It keeps us young. Ageing & Society, 20, 6, 773–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghilarducci, T. 2004. The Political Economy of ‘Pro-Work’ Retirement Policies and Responsible Accumulation. University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana. Available online at www.havenscenter.org/real_utopias/2004documents/Ghilarducci%20paper.pdf [Accessed 22 November 2006].Google Scholar
Gilleard, C. and Higgs, P. 2002. The third age: class, cohort or generation? Ageing & Society, 22, 3, 369–82.Google Scholar
Ginn, J. and Arber, S. 2000. Gender, the generational contract and pension privatisation. In Arber, S. and Attias-Donfut, C. (eds) The Myth of Generational Conflict: The Family and State in Ageing Societies. Routledge, London, 1–21.Google Scholar
Harding, T. 2005. Rights at Risk: Older People and Human Rights. Help the Aged, London.Google Scholar
Hepple, B. 2003. Age discrimination in employment. implementing the Framework Directive 2000/78/EC. In Fredman, S. and Spencer, S. (eds) Age as an Equality Issue. Hart, Oxford, 71–96.Google Scholar
Hockey, J. and James, A. 1995. Back to our futures: imaging second childhood. In Featherston, M. and Wernick, A. (eds) Images of Aging: Cultural Representations of Later Life. Routledge, London, 135–48.Google Scholar
Kohli, M. 2005. Generational changes and generational equity. In Johnson, M. (ed.) The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 518–26.Google Scholar
Kotlikoff, L. and Burns, S. 2004. The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know about America's Economic Future. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Laslett, P. 1996. A Fresh Map of Life: The Emergence of the Third Age. Second edition, Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hampshire.Google Scholar
Laslett, P. 1999. Review of Cole, T. 1992, op. cit. Ageing & Society, 19, 1, 149–50.Google Scholar
Laslett, P. and Fishkin, J. 1992. Introduction: processional justice. In Laslett, P. and Fishkin, J. (eds) Justice between Age Groups and Generations. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, 1–23.Google Scholar
Loretto, W., Duncan, C. and White, P. 2000. Ageism and employment: controversies, ambiguities and younger people's perceptions. Ageing & Society, 20, 3, 279–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macnicol, J. 2002. Dilemmas of age discrimination. Paper presented at the Third International Conference on Policy Transferability, Aix-en-Provence, France, September.Google Scholar
Macnicol, J. 2003. The Age Discrimination Debate in Britain and the USA: from the 1930s to the present. Paper for ESPAnet Conference, 13–15 November, Copenhagen. Available online at www.sfi.dk/graphics/ESPAnet/papers/Macnicol.pdf [Accessed 22 November 2006].Google Scholar
Macnicol, J. 2006. Age Discrimination: An Historical and Contemporary Analysis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
McEwen, E. (ed.)1990. Age: The Unrecognised Discrimination. Age Concern England, London.Google Scholar
McHugh, K. 2003. Three faces of ageism: society, image and place. Ageing & Society, 23, 2, 165–85.Google Scholar
McKay, S. and Middleton, S. 1998. Charactersitics of Older Workers. DfEE, London.Google Scholar
Minkler, M. and Robertson, A. 1991. The ideology of ‘age/race wars’: deconstructing a social problem. Ageing & Society, 11, 1, 1–22.Google Scholar
Mullen, P. 2002. The Imaginary Time Bomb: Why an Ageing Population is Not a Social Problem. Tauris, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neugarten, B. 1981. Age distinctions and their social functions. Chicago-Kent Law Review, 57, 4, 809–25.Google Scholar
O'Connell, R. 2006. Dignity and Substantive Equality. Working Paper, School of Law, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland. Available online at www.qub.ac.uk/sites/EqualitySocialInclusionInIreland-homePage/FileStore/Filetoupload,24729,en.doc [Accessed 15 October 2006].Google Scholar
Oswick, C. and Rosenthal, P. 2001. Towards a relevant theory of age discrimination in employment. In Noon, M. and Ogbonna, E. (eds) Equality, Diversity and Disadvantage in Employment. Palgrave, Basingstoke, Hampshire, 156–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillipson, C. 1982. Capitalism and the Construction of Old Age. Macmillan, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rawls, J. 1972. A Theory of Justice. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Rydell, I. 2005. Equity, Justice, Interdependence: Intergenerational Transfers and the Ageing Population. Institute for Futures Studies, Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Sawchuk, K. A. 1995. From gloom to boom: age, identity and target marketing. In Featherstone, M. and Wernick, A. (eds) Images of Aging: Cultural Representations of Later Life. Routledge, London, 173–87.Google Scholar
Snape, E. and Redman, T. 2003. Too old or too young? The impact of perceived age discrimination. Human Resource Management Journal, 13, 1, 78–89.Google Scholar
Scrutton, S. 1990. Ageism. In McEwen, E. (ed.) Age: The Unrecognised Discrimination. Age Concern England, London, 12–27.Google Scholar
Siegel, J. 1990. Review of Laslett, A Fresh Map of Life. Population and Development Review, 16, 2, 363–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, P. and Walker, A. 1993. Employers and older workers. Employment Gazette, 101, 8, 371–8.Google Scholar
Taylor, P. and Walker, A. 1995. Utilizing older workers. Employment Gazette, 103, 4, 141–5.Google Scholar
Thomson, D. 1989. The welfare state and generational conflict: winners and losers. In Johnson, P., Conrad, C. and Thomson, D. (eds) Workers versus Pensioners: Intergenerational Justice in an Ageing World. Manchester University Press, Manchester, England, 32–56.Google Scholar
Tillsley, C. 1990. The Impact of Age upon Employment. Warwick Papers in Industrial Relations 33, University of Warwick, Coventry, Warwickshire.Google Scholar
Tomorrow's Company 2005. The Ageing Population, Pensions and Wealth Creation. Tomorrow's Company, London.Google Scholar
Townsend, P. 1981. The structured dependency of the elderly: creation of social policy in the twentieth century. Ageing & Society, 1, 1, 5–28.Google Scholar
Townsend, P. 2006. Policies for the aged in the 21st century: more ‘structured dependency’ or the realisation of human rights? Ageing & Society, 26, 2, 161–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trinder, C., Hulme, G. and McCarthy, U. 1992. Employment: The Role of Work in the Third Age. Research Paper 1, Carnegie Inquiry into the Third Age, Carnegie UK Trust, Dunfermline, Fife.Google Scholar
Walker, A. 1980. The social creation of poverty and dependency in old age. Journal of Social Policy, 9, 1, 49–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, A. 1990. The benefits of old age? Age discrimination and social security. In McEwen, E. (ed.) Age: The Unrecognised Discrimination. Age Concern England, London, 58–70.Google Scholar
Wolf, C. 1999. Health care access, population ageing, and intergenerational justice. In Lesser, H. (ed.) Ageing, Autonomy and Resources. Ashgate, Aldershot, Hampshire, 212–45.Google Scholar
Young, M. and Schuller, T. 1991. Life after Work: The Arrival of the Ageless Society. Harper Collins, London.Google Scholar