Ageism Starts Young

Four young individuals sit around a table in the cafeteria in the basement of a student living association.  It was late in the evening, but the gathering seemed to have taken place after a late dinner to have a brief chat before retiring.  A young Ethiopian woman sat resting her head on her arm as she listened attentively.  Another Ethiopian man and a Somalian man seemed to be heading the conversation, these three were, by appearance, not more than their early twenties, “this country closes doors to you when you are past a certain age,” commented the Somalian youth, dressed in a baseball cap covering an afro, and in blue and white sports gear.  He defined the cut off point for full time education as twenty, which he stated that “after 20 you cannot study full time anymore, you must go part time and they want you to work for the state.”  The response from the Ethiopian man was that his plans for the future had been ruined because he was unable to study full time, because he was over nineteen.  Amongst the group of these young east African youths, there seemed to be a quiet agreement on the problems of age.  It seems that age discrimination begins while in the bloom of youth.  As young Ethiopian woman in her mid twenties informed me, after trying to apply for housing, “they said they cannot help me because I am not under 21.  Life continues after 21.  If you need a house, you need a house, it is not about age.”  The problem is that many hostels and housing associations operate on an ageist basis.  There are hostels and housing for under 21’s, under 25’s and under 30’s, and things get more difficult above the age of 30.  Housing benefit will not pay for a flat for a person under 25, and there is more help with actually getting and applying for a council flat for people under 21.  Therefore, it is not about need, but age.  The frustration can be felt but those who find themselves outside of these categories, for example, one homeless man who, after being told a particular hostel was only for people under 30, was heard to say “I do not like this under 30 business; they make everything so difficult.  Why can we not apply to a place because we need it, not because we are under thirty?  We are forever being moved from one place to another because of these complications in age.”  When there seems to be no consistency in whether a person is under age at eighteen, twenty one, twenty five or thirty, one has to wonder where this ageism stems from.  It brings to mind a few questions: Has anyone really found firm evidence that gives weight to such divides?  What could be so different between a twenty four and a twenty five year old, except some months?