Is age discrimination a thing?

[PhunkyPhazon]

I have to do a report on the subject for my Sociology class. Thing is, I've never really thought about it until now. It seems to mainly be an issue in the workplace for people over 40. Has anyone had experience with this, or knows someone who has? What about outside the workplace? I remember as a teenager, people tended to mistrust me just because I "looked like a troublemaker." (Protip: Every teenager apparently looks like a troublemaker)Anyone else have these kinds of moments?

Alright, I need to switch gears here. I won't lie folks, I have an ulterior motive for making this topic and I feel like a slimy bastard for doing it. You know those people at the mall who keep badgering you to take a survey and they insist it's really short and beneficial to society, and then it turns out it takes 45 minutes and it's actually on what you think of Justin Bieber's new hairspray or whatever? Well, I really, really, don't want to be one of those people.

I actually have to conduct a freakin' survey on age discrimination, and my Professor said we could use the internet. So if you have any sympathy for me, would you mind filling it out? I promise, it really is short. 17 questions, most of them multiple choice. http://agediscrimination.speedsurvey.com

Oh, and I promise the rest of this thread will NOT be used in my homework assignment whatsoever. Just share your stories about age discrimination, if you have any.

 

[DugMachine]

Hmm I think people over 40 have it a bit easier depending on the job (non physical jobs of course). I can tell you that being 18 doesn't mean jack shit in this world anymore. Hell, my parents didn't take me seriously until I was 25.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Oh yeah it's a thing. Look at the job market. How hard it is for younger people to get a job because they lack experience, even though the possibility of that experience won't happen until they're older. Vicious cycle of age discrimination.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

Oh yeah it's a thing. Look at the job market. How hard it is for younger people to get a job because they lack experience, even though the possibility of that experience won't happen until they're older. Vicious cycle of age discrimination.

I've always despised those reference sections on job applications. How can I put a reference if I have no previous employer? What do most first-timers even put on those things?

 

[Limecake]

age discrimination in the workplace? possibly, it might scare off older managers who are worried that someone young will replace them.

I can't help but feel that 'some' age discrimination is appropriate. After all I went through my teenage years and can tell you with quite a bit of certainty that just because you believe you know everything doesn't mean you do.

in fact I've grown and changed a lot in the past year and I'm 23.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

So for starters, I'm 23.

I worked part-time as a cashier at an electronics store for six months while I was in high school. I would have been there longer, but I quit because I was moving to another state to go to university.

After I got my degree, I moved back to my home state, and started job hunting. Barely anyone was hiring in my area, and those that were had outlandish requirements.

For example, one job I ran across was a part-time coin counting position at an armored truck company. I have a friend who previously worked for this company in the past, and he confirmed that the position was a complete joke. What did the company require their applicants to have for this cakewalk job? Seven consecutive years of previous job experience. SEVEN. YEARS.

I didn't really want the job, but I applied to it anyway just to see if having a degree was an acceptable alternative to job experience. It wasn't. They confirmed that without the job experience, it wouldn't matter if I'd gotten a doctorate, I still wouldn't be getting the job.

The "experience" requirement has been pissing me off quit a bit since coming home, since it clearly favors older people who were laid off from better jobs than the ones they're applying to.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

What do most first-timers even put on those things?

Assuming education information is its own section on the resume? In that case I'd put stuff like extra-curricular activities, volunteer work, etc.

The problem is that these days those are practically worthless compared to previous job experience.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

Wow, I picked a crappy site to host that survey on. Turns out- and you gotta love how they *never* warn you about this-once a certain number of people take the survey, you can't see the results unless you pay them $20. Normally I would give them the bird and relocate, but I have far too many results to back out now. To relocate now might be suicide for turning this assignment in on time. Of course I'm willing to fake a few, but it's not letting me look at even one result until I fork over the cash. I guess you win this round, scammers. Not to mention I'm really really tired but still have to do a bunch of other stuff and the idea of trying to redo everything now makes my brain want to explode.

I'm seriously quite surprised at how many people have taken the survey. I thought I'd be lucky to get 20 in two days, I've only had this up for about 8 hours and I've already exceeded that. I should definitely have enough by the time I need to turn this in. Thanks for the help guys!

 

[broadbandaddict]

Just finished the survey. Sorry to hear it's gonna cost $20. (Away to kickstarter!)

Anyways, I feel like age can effect a certain amount of things. It seems that the younger you are the less it's "OK" to pay you. Also I am constantly told that I "Look like I'm 23 or 24", I'm 19 btw, which when people find out seems to immediately send me from "Hey, that guy looks trustworthy" to "Don't trust him!".

 

[bobmus]

I'm twelve and what is this?

...

*ahem*

Anyway, I've experienced age discrimination a fair bit I would say. People often cross the street to avoid me after dark, despite the fact that I've never even been in a fight in my life! However, this may not be due to my eighteen years of age, but rather my 6 foot, 2 inches of height.
Adults at all sorts of events talk down to me like I'm a five-year-old who doesn't understand how to hold a conversation. Getting patronised for being a teenager has always bugged me greatly.

 

[Guffe]

There you go!
Always nice helping a fellow out.

 

[Pumpkin_Eater]

Google Docs has a better survey app than that site and it's free. I recommend using Docs whenever possible, the online storage is a life saver.

As for your project, old age is a protected status under US discrimination laws. I don't know the name, but there was a Supreme Court case about it (one of the parties was the University of Florida).

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

Thank all of you guys, seriously!

Google Docs has a better survey app than that site and it's free. I recommend using Docs whenever possible, the online storage is a life saver.

As for your project, old age is a protected status under US discrimination laws. I don't know the name, but there was a Supreme Court case about it (one of the parties was the University of Florida).

I really, really wish I had known about Google Doc's earlier. I'll keep it in mind for the future, but I doubt I'll ever need to conduct a survey again after this <_<

As for the law, I believe you're talking about the Age Discrimination Act of 1967. Even with it, people over 40 apparently claim for discrimination pretty often, and several papers I've read estimate it's going to increase until the Baby Boomer generation dies out.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

I thought I'd change the survey link, but fudge it. I've gotten a ton of responses, I'm not backing out now. If I have to indulge some scammers to get a good grade, than that's what I'll do. Still better than walking around a mall and shoving a piece of paer in everyone's faces.

...Even if it DOES make my soul barf.

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

Age discrimination certainly exists for the younger crowd. It may be with fairly good reason that the general population seems to assume anyone under the age of 20 is incapable of being responsible, but that doesn't stop it from being a problem. So here's the thing, I turn 18 this year which makes me legally an adult. At that point I will be going to college, working a job, paying bills, the whole deal. That means I have to be responsible for my own actions and choices, otherwise I end up homeless, or dead. At the same time, in Ontario I can't legally drink or smoke until I'm 19... what changes in a year that makes it suddenly not a problem for me to harm myself with substances? I'm not sure. Additionally what changes from the month where I'm 17 to the month where I'm 18? Why am I suddenly an adult then and what does that have to do with how competent I am?

In short, yes age discrimination definitely exists.

(Note: I'm not saying young people don't discriminate against older people, just that I haven't experienced in personally... because I'm still young.)

 

[The Funslinger]

Oh yeah it's a thing. Look at the job market. How hard it is for younger people to get a job because they lack experience, even though the possibility of that experience won't happen until they're older. Vicious cycle of age discrimination.

I've always despised those reference sections on job applications. How can I put a reference if I have no previous employer? What do most first-timers even put on those things?

References from school teachers, or college professors. Personally, I also volunteered at a charity shop (which is relatively easy to get taken on at).

 

[IrishBerserker]

The only age descrimination I can remember is regular things, like being to young to use power tools or watch some movies.

As far as getting a job I've only ever had jobs as an unskilled labourer. So as long as you're strong enough to do the job and don't mind getting dirty, age doesn't really matter.

 

[Gnoekeos]

So here's the thing, I turn 18 this year which makes me legally an adult. At that point I will be going to college, working a job, paying bills, the whole deal. That means I have to be responsible for my own actions and choices, otherwise I end up homeless, or dead. At the same time, in Ontario I can't legally drink or smoke until I'm 19... what changes in a year that makes it suddenly not a problem for me to harm myself with substances? I'm not sure.

you think that's bad at 18 I was legally responsible enough to sign away years of my life to the service, handle millions of dollars worth of equipment, get decently high level security clearance and be trained to kill people with a variety of weapons and explosives then participate in warfare yet had to wait 3 more years till the government said I was responsible enough to have a beer legally... lol

The thing with that is that if you prove to be totally irresponsible then its really easy to discharge you from the military and keep you from messing with the millions of dollars of equipment but once you're legally able to drink there is very little put in place to keep you from destroying your life.

 

[aba1]

When I was in highschool working at Price Choppers I remember that the managers
(A. Treated me like shit
(B. Paid me like shit

It was always assumed I was just some idiot kid who didn't know anything and was always trying to take advantage and even stealing.

 

[Gnoekeos]

It most certainly is a thing and I'll tell you the story of how I learned that the hard way and could have lost my job if I hadn't been being completely honest about my concerns at the time. Years ago I had just been moved up to a team leader position in the factor where I worked, in the area I was in charge of we built fairly small parts that required some pretty nimble fingers and a back that doesn't hurt you from a little bit of discomfort. We had a LOT of employee turn over (people quitting) in this area, primarily because we would get a lot of temp workers (of various ages) who didn't want to work a demanding job and quit. In one month I had to train 5 different people on the same station because people kept quitting, one person didn't even last 45 minute. Aside from Temp workers not wanting a hard job the other thing I noticed was that a lot of the older ones who had otherwise hung in there were usually rubbing their hands or their back while wincing in pain before they quit. The other thing about our factory is that its huge and makes a variety of different product of many different sizes. When the plant received a new group of temp team members they basically distributed them at random through out the plant. My area was well known to be the hardest one in the plant as far as assembly goes but there are some areas where all the team member actually does is stand at the end of a conveyor belt and inspect the parts that come down it and put them in a box. Knowing that I made the mistake of asking about it in a public meeting. I don't remember what my exact words were at the time but the management who yelled at me afterward likened it to me having said "Can we stop hiring all these old people?" which wasn't what I wanted at all, I just didn't want to set them up for failure by putting them in my department when they might actually continue to work longer somewhere else. That explanation and the fact that one of the members of management acted like what I had said in the meeting was a joke right after I said it apparently saved me because they told me that I could have been fired for that because the older people could have taken it as me discriminating against them and sued the company. After wards I had to go around to all the departments in my section and appologize to everyone there for my "joke". Since then I've been working in the company for 5 years and thankfully all the people who kept giving me crap about that have quit or been fired.