Social experiment reveals one in five adults have experienced ageism in the UK

A study conducted by BBC Radio 5 live has revealed that one in five UK adults believe they have experienced ageism in the UK, while one quarter of young adults feel they have been discriminated against because of their age.

The survey was conducted ahead of a week of programmes on BBC Radio 5 live focusing on how common ageism is in the UK, ahead of the Queen’s 90th birthday.

Jonathan Wall, controller of BBC Radio 5 live, commented: “With the Queen’s 90th birthday only a week away, now seems like an opportune moment to reflect on society’s attitudes towards age and find out how prevalent ageism is in the UK today. We’ll be discussing what our findings potentially reveal about society today, get the reaction of leading academic experts and hear first-hand from our listeners to learn about their experiences as part of a week-long national discussion looking at one of the key social issues of our time.”

The ComRes study revealed that 27 per cent of 55 to 64-year-olds feel they have experience ageism in the UK, while 18 to 34-year-olds were found to be the second most likely age group, with 25 per cent reporting similar incidents happening to them. The latest figures are higher than previously released figures which revealed that 18 per cent of over 65-year-olds have experienced ageism in the UK.

’Older people are often stereotyped as incapable, out of touch and a burden’

A further 31 per cent of Brits who reported experiencing ageism said they encountered it at work, while 15 per cent said they experienced it applying for jobs or at a job interview.

One in eight British say they have pretended to be younger than they are in the last five years and a further one in five said they feared ageing.

Commenting on behalf of Age UK, director of the charity Caroline Abrahams, said: "It would be great to live in a society in which we are all treated with kindness and respect and as the individuals we are, regardless of age. Unfortunately it seems that this is not yet the case and this should worry us all: whether you are young or old, being discriminated against because people leap to unfair conclusions about you due to your age can have a huge impact on every aspect of your life, and crucially on your self-confidence too. Although it’s unlawful to discriminate against someone solely because of their age, we know that older people are still often stereotyped as incapable, out of touch and a burden, which is simply wrong.”

Recently, the BBC Radio 5 live conducted its own undercover research where actress and ambassador for Age UK, Roxanne Pallett underwent four hours of make-up and prosthetics before going out on to the UK high street to experience life as an older woman called Doris.

’Lonely, invisible and ignored’

Speaking about her experiences while dressed as Doris, Ms Pallett said: “I’m not going to lie, it was a pretty brutal experience. I thought it was going to be fun and exciting but it just wasn’t. It made me feel really lonely, really invisible. I was overlooked and I was ignored and I felt like I was punished because of my age. I only went through it for a few hours but it’s left me with a really heavy heart.”

She reported how shocked she was by the lack of help she received while dressed as Doris, especially from men. She said: “No one was assisting me and it was obvious I needed help. One man barged me when I was walking down the street, it was like I didn’t matter. I know for a fact when you’re younger you are not treated like that. I’ve experienced men help me with my suitcase and reach for things. There’s a lot of chivalry out there but it doesn’t seem to apply to older people and that’s not right and it’s not fair.

“If there’s one thing I wish people could take away from this it would be look around. We can all be absorbed in our mobiles and our social media and ourselves, but look around as there’s always somebody who may spend a lot of time on their own that’s older who maybe would need you to help them on to the escalator, help them cross the road, help them reach something or carry their bags to the cab for them. They are being ignored and being overlooked. I’ve lived it today and it shocked me. Help them because one day that’s going to be you.”

This week will see BBC Radio 5 live broadcast a series of programmes around the theme of ageism in the UK. These include:

• Monday, BBC Radio 5 live – Breakfast (6am-10am) will have Roxanne on the programme to discuss her experiences as Doris;

• Tuesday, Up All Night (1am-5am) will find out about the different cultural attitudes that exist towards a person’s age around the world and 5 live Daily (10am-1pm) looks at the issues faced by older parents;

• Wednesday, 5 live – Breakfast (6am-10am) will examine ageism on the roads with a look at older drivers;

• Thursday, 5 live – Drive (4pm-7pm) will look at ageism and its impact in the workplace.

Catch up on BBC Radio 5 live programmes here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01ky207/clips

See the study results in full here.