Emmerdale Actress Roxanne Pallett goes undercover
A survey carried out for BBC Radio 5 live suggests that one in five adults believe they’ve experienced ageism in the UK, with a quarter of young adults believing they’ve faced discrimination because of their age.
The figures have been released as BBC Radio 5 live begins a special week of programming looking at how common ageism is in the UK today ahead of the Queen’s 90th birthday next week.
The ComRes study for BBC Radio 5 live appears to show that over a quarter (27 per cent) of 55 to 64 year-olds say they have experienced ageism. Somewhat surprisingly, 18 to 34 year olds are the second most common age group to say they’ve experienced ageism with one in four (25 per cent) believing this has happened to them. This figure is slightly higher than the fewer than one in five (18 per cent) of over 65 year-olds who say they’ve experienced ageism in the UK.
Three in 10 Brits who report experiencing ageism say they have encountered it at work (31 per cent), while 15 per cent say they have experienced it applying for jobs or at a job interview.
One in eight British adults say they have pretended to be younger than they are (12 per cent) in the last five years, while one in five adults (22 per cent) say that they fear ageing.
BBC Radio 5 live recently carried out undercover research with the actress Roxanne Pallett. Roxanne underwent four hours of make-up and prosthetics before heading out on to the UK high street to experience life as an older woman called Doris.
Reflecting back on her experiences as Doris, Roxane says: “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.”
Roxanne was shocked by the lack of help she received while dressed as Doris, particularly from men. She explained “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.”
Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director of Age UK, says: “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.”
