Age without limits
A new campaign needs your help to tackle ageism in society
HEALTH, CARE & SUPPORT
Image: Age Without Limits
Holly Holder
Deputy Director for Homes, Centre for Ageing Better
Holly Holder
Deputy Director for Homes at the Centre for Ageing Better
Issue 70 | February 2024
At the Centre for Ageing Better, we didn’t have any second thoughts about what our New Year’s Resolution would be. We knew for 2024 there was one thing we wanted to see more than anything - the beginning of the end for ageism. That is why we have launched the country’s first anti-ageism campaign called Age Without Limits.
Ageism is the unfair treatment of people based on their age and it is completely embedded in our society. We see and hear casual ageism everywhere from the media, to TV, to the everyday conversations we have with family and friends.
It is the most widespread prejudice in the country. Our research for the Age Without Limits campaign shows half of adults over 50 experienced age discrimination in the past year. It is the prejudice hiding in plain sight that is almost never called out and challenged. In 2024, we need this to change.
Image: Paul Grogan
Ageism is harmful
Ageism needs to be challenged because it is extremely harmful. It affects how we think about other people, how we talk to older people, and how we treat older people in the workplace and in our communities.
It lies at the heart of the argument made by some that older people should move out of the homes they have lived in for decades to free them up for more deserving beneficiaries. It impacts the type of healthcare treatment people receive, sometimes with life-changing consequences. Ageism also affects how we think about ourselves. We put limits on ourselves and that stops us from trying new things and living as full a life as possible.
And it changes our expectations of what we can expect from later life, meaning we often accept pain and suffering as an inevitable part of the ageing process rather than seeking out solutions.
About the Centre for Ageing Better
Everyone has the right to a good life as they get older and our whole society benefits when they do. But far too many people face huge barriers that prevent them from doing so.
As a result, many older people are living in bad housing, dealing with poverty and poor health and made to feel invisible in their communities and society.
The Centre for Ageing Better is pioneering ways to make ageing better a reality for everyone. Its key areas of work include challenging ageism and building a nationwide Age-friendly Movement, creating Age-friendly Employment and Age-friendly Homes.
Image: Peter Kindersley
About the Centre for Ageing Better
Everyone has the right to a good life as they get older and our whole society benefits when they do. But far too many people face huge barriers that prevent them from doing so.
As a result, many older people are living in bad housing, dealing with poverty and poor health and made to feel invisible in their communities and society.
The Centre for Ageing Better is pioneering ways to make ageing better a reality for everyone. Its key areas of work include challenging ageism and building a nationwide Age-friendly Movement, creating Age-friendly Employment and Age-friendly Homes.
Image: Peter Kindersley
Image: In-Press Photography
What you can do
To overcome such deeply entrenched societal attitudes requires a mass movement. We’re asking people to take a moment to consider if they hold any ageist beliefs or attitudes. While around one in three people admit to holding ageist beliefs, in reality the number is likely to be far higher. Most people are unlikely to be holding such beliefs maliciously; usually they are held without the individual even realising they harbour such beliefs.
By taking time to consider our own thinking around ageing, we may come to realise how some things we say could be hurtful to people we know, impact our own approach to later life or contribute to the ageist society we currently live in. Individuals who begin to reassess their own ageism can then drive change in society.
Making changes at work
More broadly, individuals can help the industries they work in think harder about how they might be facilitating ageism and take action to reverse this. Those working in the marketing industry should think more carefully about its messaging around ageing. Journalists in the media should be reconsidering how they portray older people. Housebuilders should consider whether the homes they build are suitable for everyone, regardless of their age.
Government also has an example to set in showing that it does not tolerate ageist attitudes and that it is preparing adequately for our growing ageing population. Creating a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing in England would be an important first step to achieving this.
We hope millions will see 2024 as a watershed moment in their attitudes towards age and ageing.
To start your journey, please take the Are You Ageist? quiz at AgeWithoutLimits.org or sign up to our Age-friendly Movement.
“Individuals can help the industries they work in think harder about how they might be facilitating ageism and take action to reverse this.”
