Although a relatively new term in the field of psychology, the concept of ageism is one that has lengthy roots

and has fallen under the scrutiny of many schools of psychological thought. The term ageism can be defined as any act of discrimination against individuals or groups of people because of their age. In 1969, gerontologist Robert Neil Butler coined the term ageism during a turbulent time in our nations socio-political climate. Age-based discrimination has been, and still is, a controversial topic in todays workplace. For example, although an elderly worker may perform well in a job that requires both skill and speed, a younger applicant may get the position over them. Several examples of ageisms footprint can be observed throughout todays workforce in a variety of ways. During the wave of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, society was addressing a multitude of discriminatory problems- mainly those dealing with age, race, gender, and ethnicity. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) was one answer to the emerging concerns of age-based discrimination. Moreover, Congress passed the amendment making it unlawful for an employer to base employment decisions on a workers age. Other aspects of the ADEA of 1967 included clauses designed to combat ageism based on unfounded stereotypes about the diminished abilities of older individuals by forcing employers to judge older workers on their abilities, not age-based myths, prejudices or stereotypes. The ADEA covers workers age 40 and older. Decades later, ageism still proves to be thought-provoking concept as The ADEA was amended by The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) in 1990 and 1998 to give workers increased protection against certain actions by management, including refusing to hire or promote older workers, cutting back on their employee benefits, and also limiting the elderly adequate training or job responsibilities.

Many elderly are mentally and physically active regardless of their age and have a great deal to contribute. While older workers benefit from higher wages they sometimes are encouraged into early retirement or layoffs. The Bush School of Government and Public Services at Texas A&M, found that firms are more than 40% more likely to interview a younger adult applicant than an older applicant. As the demographic of our nations workforce is constantly in flux, presently we are seeing a rise in the average age of a worker in the US increase. This can be attributed to the recession our nation is still climbing out of. For instance, with all-time high unemployment rates in certain areas leading to corporations and even some major cities declaring bankruptcy, job security in such an uncertain environment is likely paramount. Not only are workers retiring later despite resistive efforts by management, now so than ever before, we have retired people going back to work. One of the implications of this is emerging as an important issue today. With this shift in the age demographic of our work force, Social Security Benefits and other government subsidies are being compromised. If a considerable percent of the workforce stays employed until the age of 80 (for example), it could create a much larger percent of the workforce retiring at the same time, very conceivably depleting SSI, etc. for the following generations. In addition, if firms cant create new job positions there will be heavy barriers of entry for younger, motivated adults as they try to enter the workforce. In sum, we, as a society, need to embrace and celebrate age as another element of diversity, just as we do race and gender.