The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco published a report showing that there is systemic discrimination against older workers, especially older women. To reach this conclusion, researchers responded to 13,000 job listings with 40,000 applications and resumes. The study encompassed 12 cities and 11 states. Researchers divided applicants into separate types of employment, sending female applicants to administrative assistant jobs, male applicants to janitor and security guard jobs and both male and female applicants to retail jobs. As expected, younger applicants received more callbacks than older applicants, and women received fewer callbacks across the board.
Findings
According to researchers, the retail application process (which included both genders) showed “sharper drop-off in callback rates with age for women than for men.” For the male applicants to janitor and security guard jobs, the results were not entirely clear in terms of age discrimination, while young female applicants to administrative assistant positions clearly received more callbacks than older female applicants.
The study settled on three take-aways:
First, there is evidence of age discrimination in hiring, for both women and men. Second, while both middle-aged and older applicants experience discrimination relative to younger applicants, older applicants—those near the age of retirement—experience more age discrimination. And third, women experience more age discrimination than men do.
The study went on to suggest that a possible reason for this discrimination could be that lower-skilled jobs, like the ones included in the study, choose applicants based on looks and “the effects of aging on physical appearance are evaluated more harshly for women than for men.”
Other researchers agree that ageism is a determining factor in the job market. According to Teresa Ghilarducci, a labor economist and director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), 29 percent of full-time workers between the ages of 55 and 64 earn less than two-thirds of the median wage for workers of that age and 60 percent of elderly workers are pushed into retirement after involuntarily losing their jobs. This latter point is important because this can severely affect how one’s social security benefits are calculated.
Is Ageism Illegal?
This kind of research should be alarming, as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) “forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.” It is illegal and yet it happens. However, the legality of age discrimination was made more complicated last year when the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled that “an applicant for employment cannot sue an employer for disparate impact because the applicant has no status as an employee.” According to Patricia G. Barnes’ blog, though this ruling only affects Georgia, Florida and Alabama, it could lead to similar decisions at other federal circuits and maybe even end up in the US Supreme Court.
The question of age discrimination in hiring practices takes on renewed significance in light of the Social Security Board of Trustees’ 2016 report, which predicts that Social Security’s funding will be depleted by 2034. Whether we’re talking about job access or social security benefits, a question looms: how will older American citizens support themselves if they are being thrust out of the formal economy? This is a question that affects everyone, not just the elderly, for we all must face the perils of age and diminishing returns.
