Ageism: how widespread is the issue in modern Scotland?

Ageism, or age discrimination, is when an individual is treated unfairly due to their age.

Last year, Age Scotland commissioned YouGov polling to investigate the scale of the issue. We asked 1,004 Scots ‘have you ever been discriminated against, treated unfairly, or missed out on opportunities because of your age?’:

1 in 5 said they had (19% of those surveyed)

23% did not know, suggesting ageism is not necessarily well understood or it may not be obvious someone has been subjected to it

Respondents aged 25-34 were most likely to report experiencing ageism (27%), followed by people aged 18-24 (23%), and those over 55 (20%)

21% of female respondents said yes, compared to 17% of males

We heard about ageism linked to people being perceived as both ‘older’ and ‘younger’.

A clear majority of examples - over 70% - related to ageism in the workplace. As Scotland’s ageing population and changes to State Pension age make working into your late sixties and beyond more common, tackling ageism in the workplace will become even more vital.

Other examples related to education, financial services, driving, and healthcare and we also heard about cases where respondents were belittled or talked down to, for instance in shops and in public, because of their age.

The findings demonstrate that ageism is a live and corrosive issue which can happen to people of all ages.

Everyone has a part to play in tackling ageism including the Scottish Government, politicians, public sector, media, employers and individuals.

While there are some simple actions which we can all take, including challenging ageism and harmful stereotypes in our everyday conversations, there must also be a wider examination of the way we use language and imagery about age and ageing across society.

Help us to tackle ageism!

Our age inclusive workplaces team support and enable employers to build age inclusive workplaces. Find out more at www.age.scot/workplace.

Our media guide Making Ageism Old News is also available. It aims to help stakeholders, including politicians and the media, improve how they talk about older people by avoiding ageist and negative stereotypes in the messages and images they use. For more information visit www.age.scot/mediaguide.

Keep your body and mind active and book a

Power Quiz

Age Scotland launched Power Quiz when lockdown restrictions lifted to help older people keep their body and mind in good shape and boost balance, strength, mobility and flexibility, while having fun answering quiz questions. Since then, it has gone from strength to strength.

Community groups around Scotland can contact Age Scotland to book a session to share with their members the physical and mental benefits of exercise and company.

Power Quiz offers a series of accessible movement-based exercises to get people moving along with multiple-choice quiz questions to fire up the mind. The questions are an entertaining way for quiz fans to test and sharpen their knowledge. When the answer for a question is revealed, players are invited to join in a movement associated with that answer to a fun music score. You can play individually or in teams and the session lasts an hour.

Host a session!

Get in touch at 0333 323 2400 or healthandwellbeing@agescotland.org.uk.