In late 2024, I had an opportunity to review an extraordinary report prepared by Wendy Garcarz of Refirement UK. It was looking at attitudes and barriers to entrepreneurship amongst women over 55. There are a whole series of implications that, I think, extend more widely to women in general and people over 55.

Interestingly, a report from the Women and Equalities Committee recommended the creation of a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing in England.  Yet, we still don’t have one (as of December 2024).  Age UK and the Centre for Ageing Better have made multiple submissions to the Committee, repeatedly emphasising the need for a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing in England.  They argued that such a commissioner should have the power to conduct class investigations into any particular abuses that came to light, report them, and then ensure their recommendations are taken up.

Pillar Five is to consider introducing paid or extended unpaid carers’ leave and a full right to flexible working from day one.

This feels like a double-edged sword to me.  We know that the 50 to 64-year-old age group already provides more caring than any other age group.  We recognise increased pressure for carers to require leave both as parents and for parents.

The Centre for Ageing Better employment commitment is not just a desire; it has articulated six distinctive elements to bring this commitment to life.

While the new government (2024) is pursuing a growth agenda, it must be hoped that they will recognise that implementing these commitments will increase GDP by £9bn per year and increase income tax/national insurance contributions of £1.9bn per year (on conservative assumptions based on tax rates Sept-24).

During the general election campaign of June 2024, the Centre for Ageing Better set out a framework for the 50+ employment commitment.  Simply, they were calling on all parties to drive up the employment rate of people in their 50s, 60s and beyond, including ensuring that the employment rate for people aged 50 to 64 should rise above 75% by 2030.

There is so much in the media about how young people are not what they used to be.  How young people are seen as flaky.  How young people are seen as without ambition.  How young people are seen as presenting a whole range of mental health issues.  How young people are addicted to social media and destructive behaviour.  Categorising young people with these negative connotations is ageist because it’s creating stereotypes.

As people living in Britain, we often underestimate the influence that the Commonwealth has in setting the agenda internationally.

There’s been lots of talk about Millennials and Boomers and Generation Z but the most encouraging phrase that I’ve heard that characterises an age group is Perennials.

We have seen for centuries how women have been discriminated against because when they become available to have children, employers have seen them as ‘at risk of pregnancy’.  When they take time out to bring up their children, their future careers are constrained.

I was intrigued by an article in The Guardian, in November 2023, where they were talking about how work has conquered every day of the week and how do we remain human in a world that worships toil? This is a particular challenge as we get older, when we recognise that our capacity to provide the same level of activity and, our desire to provide the same level of activity, can be significantly diminished.

Just to imagine that you are confronted with these positive and negatives views of people in the workplace.  I invite you to go through this list and answer this question, “which relate to younger people which relate to older people”?

From the research that The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Report on Ageism drew upon, there is a very useful catalogue of different stereotypes, based upon different institutional settings that are represented across different countries.

It was in 2022 that the BBC published an article about whether delaying ageing can be achieved by refusing to act your

In an earlier article I talked about how the media has so much impact on the way we see ourselves.  It is interesting how a current campaign of the Centre for Ageing Better is calling out many of the things that the media do by default.

Wales is the first country in the UK to appoint an older people’s commissioner for Wales.  We’ve had Children Commissioners for a long time and the Welsh commissioner has been in post for a number of years now.  She has stated four key objectives as her commissioner priorities.

As I write this, in March 2023, we have just had the most recent iteration of the Oscars and there has been some backslapping, I would say, about the fact that an older woman has won an Oscar.  It is very interesting to see the way that awareness of promoting older women has grown within the acting community.  Coincidentally, I listened this morning to Desert Island Discs, the Michael Caine celebration, where he was talking about his life and his continuing role as an actor into his late eighties, early nineties.

Building an intergenerational workplace can bring many benefits, including increased diversity of thought, access to different skill sets and experience and a richer understanding of the needs and perspectives of different age groups

In autumn 2022, the Centre for Aging Better launched its challenge to sign up employers to the Age-Friendly Employer pledge.  It is fascinating to see what that pledge consists of.  The Centre for Ageing Better believe that as well as being a good thing and the right thing, there is a compelling business case for employers.  The job market is changing.

I try to keep an eye out for recent cases where ageism has impacted the future of an organisation.  The truth is that more and more employment-related issues that come to dispute are featuring ageism as one of the reasons that employers are having to pay out at industrial tribunals

It’s very interesting to look at how different societies are responding to the changing age of their populations.  Some societies, with a rapidly growing young population, are responding to the challenge of providing futures for younger people by introducing lower retirement ages.

We are strongly influenced by images in the way that we think about groups of people.  What comes to mind for you when I say pop star?

I’m increasingly noticing that ageism is coming up the corporate agenda: very, very slowly, very gently, but it is beginning to emerge.  However, for senior professionals working in large organisations who are becoming aware that ageism is an issue, there’s a real dilemma.

There are very good reasons that most discussion about ageism has focussed on discrimination against older people.  However, ageism for younger people is deeply engrained in government policy and social norms.

The number of ageism cases coming to Employment Tribunals has been steadily rising.  Recently I had a look at the report of a case because I wanted to understand what kinds of things are going on when ageism becomes part of court litigation.

Too often, “old” and “vulnerable” are brought together in describing how we should respond to a certain group of people. But the assumption that because I’m old, I am vulnerable is a classic ageism trope.

The cry of the youngster is, ‘when I grow up, I want to…’, sometimes I want to become…, sometimes I want to do… . When I leave home, I will be able to … .Maybe it’s get that job, be with that person, go to that particular part of the world, have the travel, have the house.

Sexism and racism provide a continuing challenge to the attitudes and culture of organisations and society at large, and have now been adopted under a broader agenda of diversity and inclusion. In the UK the Equality and Human Rights Commission has responsibility for encouraging equality and diversity, eliminating unlawful discrimination, and protecting and promoting the human rights of everyone in Britain.