Research by the Centre of Ageing Better reveals almost one in 10 people (9%) aged 65 and above have been labelled a dinosaur while 13% of over-75s had been told they were “past their sell-by date”
Everyday “ageist phrases” like labelling people “dinosaurs” should be scrapped because they “help entrench” discrimination, campaigners say.
One in 10 people their late 40s and early 50s say they have been branded “over the hill” while almost a quarter have been told they were “stuck in their ways”. Research by the Centre of Ageing Better also reveals almost one in 10 people (9%) aged 65 and above have been labelled a dinosaur while 13% of over-75s had been told they were “past their sell-by date”.
Campaigners argued using such phrases “helps to entrench ageism within society” and can affect people’s confidence as they age. Some 8% of people aged 45-54 said they had been told “old dogs can’t learn new tricks” while almost a fifth (18%) of all adults surveyed admitted having used the phrase “mutton dressed as lamb” about an older person.
Harriet Bailiss, co-lead of the age without limits campaign at the Centre for Ageing Better, said: “Our survey shows that these everyday ageist phrases are still very commonly used. We probably use these phrases without thinking, but their repeated use helps to entrench ageism within society which can limit everybody’s work, health, relationships, ambition and confidence as we grow older.
“That is why on age without limits day, we are calling on the country to stop and think, and to question and challenge ageism. Our society could have a more positive and less limiting outlook if these phrases were not so common and everyday, and that is why it’s important we all try to stop using them – for the benefit of all of us.”
Katherine Crawshaw, also from the centre, said what can seem harmless can have damaging knock-on impacts on people. She said: “We want people to stop and question whether they are making judgments or assumptions about people based on their age. We want people to consider what is it that they are really saying and what impact those words might have on others?
“It may seem harmless but it all feeds into an ever-present prejudice in our society which can mean people being overlooked for a job they desperately need simply because of their age, or not being considered for the medical treatment they need.
“We want people to question and challenge those ageist assumptions. By doing so, we all have the potential to create positive change for ourselves and others.”