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According to a national study of age discrimination in hiring conducted in 1993 by the Fair Employment Council (FEC) of Great Washington, Inc. for the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), certain industry employers showed bias against older job applicants. The study concluded that the older job applicants received a less favourable response than their younger counterparts for more than 25% of the employers or employment agencies who indicated that a position was available (Bendick Jr., 1993).
In the study, FEC sent two resumes that were comparable in job-related qualifications but different in the demographic characteristic under investigation - in this case, age, to 775 selected large firms and employment agencies from around the country. One resume was for a person 57 years of age and the other for a 32 year old. Seventy-nine companies responded that a position was available and that they were interested in one or both of the applicants. Among them, 32 companies were interested in both applicants; 34 companies favoured the younger applicant; and 13 companies favoured the older one. The net difference between the treatment of the two types of applicants was 26.6% (21 companies).
Researchers also found that age discrimination varied by location, industry, and success of the firm. Firms located in the West and South had higher rates of discrimination than firms in the Northeast and Midwest. Similarly, firms located in nonmetropolitan areas were more prone to discrimination than companies in urban areas. In industry terms, manufacturing companies almost exclusively preferred the younger applicants, while the services and retail sector showed almost no agerelated bias. The researchers suggested that two strategies can be used to lessen the effects of age discrimination: emphasising youthful qualities and de-emphasising age.
Chronological and Functional Age
Statistics count who is old merely as a function of chronological age. However, a more accurate description, reflecting how most of us naturally think, is to classify who is "elderly" by more than just one criterion. Typically, before we think of a person as being old, we look at a combination of factors such as chronological age, functional capacity, social involvement, and physical and mental health. As a result, we would not say that a healthy, functioning 63-year old is elderly, but would probably say that...