LONDON – The pandemic has increased age discrimination, says a United Nations report, affecting different generations in work and social relationships in different ways. “The Covid crisis has had a devastating impact on the elderly”, says UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres commenting on the study, “and solidarity between young and old will be a crucial factor for the global recovery after the coronavirus” .
In a joint investigation, four Glass Palace agencies say theageism, or generational discrimination, has become pervasive during the pandemic, underlining that the problem does not only affect older people. In particular in the workplace, both young and old can face disadvantages due to age: a condition that existed even before the spread of the virus around the world, but which was accentuated by Covid with measures of social distance, the long months of lockdown, the resulting economic crisis. According to the report, the symptoms of this form of discrimination have manifested themselves especially in health care, social care, the legal system and the media.
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“Age discrimination is widely present in institutions, law and government policies at the international level,” said Secretary General Guterres summarizing the results of the study. “It damages the individual health and dignity of people, as well as the economy and society, by denying people their human rights and the ability to develop their potential.”
The report, over 200 pages long and prepared by the World Health Organization, the UN office for human rights, the UN department for social and economic affairs, and the UN Population Fund, indicates that generational discrimination manifests itself in stereotyped and prejudiced attitudes, as well as in real forms of discrimination. “Older people – as early as the age of 50 – are often seen as frail and vulnerable, while younger people are portrayed as invincible, irresponsible or reckless,” notes the study. “As the nations of the world begin to emerge from the recession caused by the pandemic, people of all ages will continue to face various forms of discrimination. It is possible that it will become even more difficult for young people to find work. Older workers may be the hardest hit by staff cuts ”.
Among the strategies that the report suggests to reduce theageism, the UN study cites three fields: tailored legislation, educational activities and more intergenerational contacts. “We need to build a movement to change the narrative on age and aging,” concludes the document, admonishing that one of the reasons why generational discrimination is advancing is that to a large extent it is not recognized and denounced. But it is as serious discrimination as any other and causes our societies, in addition to personal and private hardship, billions of dollars in damage.
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