Karan Hardy: An Example of Ageist Attitudes

Britain celebrates birthdays and passes laws for each year gained on earth; but in parts of Asia or Africa for example, there are people who do not know the age of their relatives exactly, there are people who do not know the exact date of their birth because it is not seen as so important and a great determinant of anything.  Perhaps this should be an evidence for us also, that age is not so important in our daily dealings and lives, and laws should reflect the conditions and personal needs of people rather than whether they are over or under a certain age. 

In conclusion, the fight against ageism continues with The Equality Bill, which attempts to end unequal treatment on the grounds of age, passed its second reading in parliament in May.  Robert Brown, The Senior Policy Officer at Age Concern and Help the Aged, argues that “The current Bill does not propose to end the widely criticised forced retirement age,” he adds that “Nor does it contain a clear, legally binding commitment to introduce the detailed rules needed to rid the health service and financial service of age discrimination.  We have been campaigning for a long time now and it’s an ongoing process.  The bill will take the best part of a year to go through Parliament so it’s vital that we keep up our intense lobbying to get the strongest possible Equality Bill out of this process.  Unless these rules are brought in, older people will continue to face unfair treatment.”  We hope that such a bill tackles discrimination for all age groups in society.