From Ageism to Age Equality: Addressing the Challenges ...

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Implementing Equality forOlder PeopleNiall Crowley, CEO, The Equality AuthorityIntroductionIn 2002, The Equality Authority produced a report called Implementing Equality for Older People.This report, which sets out a comprehensive equality strategy for older people, was prepared by acommittee that brought together organisations of older people, employers, trade unions and thestate sector.Initially there was some debate within the committee as to the need for such a strategy. Argumentsagainst suggested that the diversity of older people militated against a single strategy; that anequality strategy for older people might depict older people as victims or as dependent on charity;and that a strategy was not necessary: all that was needed were a few improvements.62The debate, however, moved on and established that while older people are a diverse group they doshare experiences and situations. Rather than a focus on charity it looked to a rights-based strategyand noted that there were, in fact, significant deficits in provision for older people.In other words, there was a need for a coherent and comprehensive equality strategy for olderpeople on the basis of:our emphasis as a society on the value of youth and youth culturethe need to challenge ageist behaviour and attitudesthe exclusion of older people due to ageism and institutional practicesthe need for positive action to address the needs of older people, repair a history of exclusionand create conditions for full participationthe importance of services for older people that enable them to participate actively in societythe particular needs of those older people who have a disability or who are in a vulnerablesituation.The Implementing Equality for Older People report provided a useful definition of ageism. Ageisminvolves an interlinked combination of individual attitudes, institutional practices and relationships.Individual attitudes can reflect stereotypes of older people as dependent, in decline or marginal.Ageism is practised not only by individuals but also by organisations. This is what is referred to as‘institutional practice’. This is manifested in a range of ways including:Conference Proceedings
the use of upper age limitsa failure to take account of the situation, experiences or aspirations of older people when makingdecisions and allocating resourcesinadequate provision for the needs of older peoplethe segregation of older people as a result of the lack of real choice to remain within theircommunities.These sorts of institutional practices are shaped by individual attitudes and vice versa. This mix ofinstitutional practices and individual attitudes can lead to ways of relating to older people that can becharacterised by abuse, neglect, dependence and being patronised.The report has been well received by the social partners through the NESF and by a range ofGovernment Departments and State agencies. We must now move from consideration of the reportto implementation of the strategy.Age DiscriminationTo put the equality strategy into action we first need to eliminate age discrimination. The case files ofThe Equality Authority provide valuable evidence of the discrimination experienced by older peopleand therefore of the nature and size of this task. At the heart of many of these cases is the issue ofstereotyping, that is, of holding the view that an older person’s capacity, ambition and aspirationsare defined solely in terms of their age. This notion is deeply embedded in our culture. It gives riseto discrimination and is a driving force for ageism.63Examples of Discrimination from the Case Files of The Equality AuthorityEmploymentIn 2003, approximately one in ten (9 per cent) of The Equality Authority’s case files under theEmployment Equality Acts 1998 and 2004, which outlaw discrimination in the workplace, related tothe age ground. These almost exclusively involved older people. The issues covered reflect theparticular difficulties faced by older people who seek to participate in the labour market. Theyincluded claims of discrimination in relation to job advertisements, interviews, promotion andworking conditions.Job advertising including age restrictions has been an ongoing focus. A successful case againstRyanair highlighted the discriminatory nature of a job advertisement that sought ‘a young anddynamic professional’. Another case, Dunbar v. Good Counsel College, raised the issue of promotion.It found that Mr Dunbar was discriminated against because date of birth was used to determineseniority, resulting in the appointment of the older candidate, when both candidates had beenconsidered equally suitable for promotion. In another case, a firm of solicitors was found to havediscriminated against a woman who was told she was being made redundant because it had been‘decided to take on a young girl who could be trained to do her job’.From Ageism to Age Equality: Addressing the Challenges
Page 1 and 2:
From Ageism to Age Equality:Address
Page 5 and 6:
Introduction1
Page 7 and 8:
Presentations in the Final Session
Page 9:
membership of the Traveller communi
Page 12 and 13:
Opening Address (1)Karen Erwin, Cha
Page 14 and 15:
Opening Address (2)Sylvia Meehan, B
Page 16 and 17: What is Ageism?Loretta Crawley,Scho
Page 18 and 19: Marginalisation is very often the r
Page 20 and 21: Ageism and Attitudes toOlder People
Page 22 and 23: Table 2: Perceptions of how one is
Page 24 and 25: Fear of crime was identified by ove
Page 26 and 27: Table 7: Forms of less favourable t
Page 28 and 29: Just 4 per cent of respondents aged
Page 30 and 31: Table 14: Personal preferences for
Page 32 and 33: Attitudes Towards Older PeopleTable
Page 34 and 35: Table 18: Responses to Scenario Two
Page 36 and 37: Overall, the data suggests a need a
Page 38 and 39: Postal Survey of AttitudesWe conduc
Page 40 and 41: administration and management perso
Page 42 and 43: Screening and Preventative Services
Page 44 and 45: ConclusionsThe broad aim of health
Page 46 and 47: 42Conference Proceedings
Page 48 and 49: Rooting Out AgeDiscrimination in th
Page 50 and 51: Training EventsTraining events on a
Page 52 and 53: Guide to Auditing Age Discriminatio
Page 54 and 55: Effective Involvement of Older Peop
Page 56 and 57: Combating Age Discrimination 9Liste
Page 58 and 59: 54Conference Proceedings
Page 60 and 61: The Status of Age Equality andNon-D
Page 62 and 63: equired to have adopted the two Dir
Page 64 and 65: necessary to promote awareness of i
Page 68 and 69: Provision of Goods, Services, Educa
Page 70 and 71: Such an exercise, often quite simpl
Page 72 and 73: developed as an integral part of eq
Page 74 and 75: Older people who internalise pejora
Page 76 and 77: When considering the implementation
Page 78 and 79: Richard BakerRichard chairs the ant
Page 80 and 81: Síle O’ConnorSíle O’Connor ha
Page 82 and 83: NCAOPThe National Council on Ageing
Page 84: The Equality AuthorityThe Equality
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