Britain, awash with 'casual ageism', is no country for old men

SunLife Insurance Company has recently published the result of its consumer research of 4,000 men and women in Britain with a Report entitled 'Ageist Britain ?'

It made the point that if you type phrases like ‘old fart’ and ‘bitter old man’ into Twitter and you’ll see they’re used thousands of times a week and casual ageism is part of our everyday language. It’s so ingrained that many ageist remarks are often overlooked, missed or simply accepted. In fact, ‘ageist’ language, however casual, can have a huge impact on our perception of later life for men and women and the way we treat people we meet and it perpetuates the myth that life for older men and women must be worse than before it.

Some statistics :

• over a third of Brits (34%) admit that they have at some time discriminated against people because of their age.

• almost half of Brits in their thirties (48%) admitted to having been ageist at some point.

• more than two thirds (68%) of over 50s say the ageism apparent in everyday life has made
them feel less valued.

• almost 1 in 3 Brits have experienced age discrimination at work, 1 in 10 on public transport and 1 in 7 while shopping.

• Southampton is the most ageist city in Britain with  46% of residents admitting to being ageist whereas Bristol the least ageist with only 20% admitting to being ageist.

• a fifth don’t believe that Britain is a good place for older people to live and 31% say they believe ageism is a bigger problem today than three years ago.

Ageist phrases directed at old men :

• Old fogey
• Old codger
• Old goat
• Old fuddy-duddy

• Decrepit old man
• Drive like an old man
• Grumpy old man
• Cranky old man
• Miserable old man

• Past it
• Over the hill
• Senile
• Out of touch
• Having a senior moment
• Silly old fool
• You can’t teach an old dog new tricks
• Ancient

Common terms that we think aren’t ageist, but are:

• Looks good, for his age
• Gentlemen of a certain age

Over a 7 day period ageist phrases were used on social media channels including Twitter and blogs 2,400 times and 125,684 casually ageist terms are used each year on social media.

• ‘old fart’ is used 436 times a week
• ‘bitter old man/woman’ 253 times a week
• ‘little old lady/man’ 308 times a week
• ‘grumpy old man/woman’ 168 times a week
• ‘ladies/gentlemen of a certain age’ 140 times a week

As a result of ageist behaviour directed at them, men and women in their sixties are most likely to feel :

• ‘less valued’ 73%
• ‘self-conscious’ 52%
• 'alienated’ 53%
• ‘unhappy’ 62%

Emma Twyning at the 'Centre for Ageing Better' welcomed the Report and said : “These subtle, but damaging messages, are everywhere, from the TV shows we watch featuring “doddery but dear” characters and the “anti-ageing” face creams we buy, to the constant media reports about the “burden” of our ageing population. The evidence suggests that this ageist societal narrative negatively impacts on our personal experiences of ageing and perhaps even our health and well being.”

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director of Age UK, said : “Ageism must become as unacceptable as every other form of discrimination.”



Shelley Hopkinson, Public Affairs Manager at 'Independent Age', agreed, adding : “Part of the problem is that people often don’t even realise that the language they’re using can be ageist or cause offence”.