Job Discrimination & the Aged INTRODUCTION This research examines the I

This research examines the issue of job discrimination against the aged in the United States. The contention of this research is that job discrimination against the aged does exist, and that it is not only inequitable for older persons, but costly to employers.

The average expected life span in the United States increased from 70 years in 1960 to 79 years in 1989 (Palmore, 1989). The expected life span for women remained greater than that for men. The expected life span is applicable to individuals born in the year for which the statistic is determined not for those individuals already present in the population. Similar life expectancy increases occurred, however, with respect to all age groups in the American population. Thus, the absolute numbers of elderly individuals in the population is increasing, and may be expected to continue increasing for years to come.

Between 1970 and 1980, the total population of the United States grew by 11.3 percent (Paxton, 1989). That segment of the population aged 65 years old or older, however, increased by 27.5 percent (Bureau of the Census, 1986). The fastest

1 2growing population segment is the 65 years old and older group. Thus, the proportion of the elderly in the population, as well as their absolute numbers, is increasing, and may be expected to continue to increase. In the last years of the twentieth century, the United States will become much grayer.

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s when someone is made better off, while no one is made worse off (Gwartney, Stroup, and Studenmund, 1989). Thus, if one holds the position that economic efficiency exists within an economy, then the introduction of a change in resource allocation to provide for equality of opportunity will be viewed as one which requires a tradeoff between equality and efficiency. If, on the other hand, one holds the position that the existing allocation of resources within an economy is not perfectly efficient, then the introduction of a change in 8 resource allocation may be viewed as a means of increasing total welfare. The concept of equal opportunity often appears to defy precise definitiondefinitions tend to change with the per spective of the protagonist. Klappholz (1972, 247) said that most assessments that equality of opportunity is absent are actually saying that "certain individuals, or groups, do not have . . . certain opportunities" which are available to other individuals and groups. This line of reasoning is usually extended to the idea that such conditions are "unfair and ought to be remedied" (Klappholz, 1972, 247). Klappholz (1972) also noted that equal opportunity is advocated for two reasons. First, through equa

Category: Psychology - J