Surprising age Australians turn ‘invisible’

A landmark new poll has revealed a surprising statistic on when Australians are first likely to be considered old.

The poll, commissioned for the nation’s Ageism Awareness Day on Friday, found that people in their 50s and 60s were more likely than people in their 80s and 90s to personally experience ageism and are more likely to consider it a “major problem”.

The research, conducted by the RedBridge Group, polled more than 1000 Australians and segmented them across 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s age groups.

The research found 68 per cent of all Australians over the age of 50 considered ageism to be a serious problem and that people in their 60s are the most likely to have experienced ageism in the past year.

However, the poll also found people in their 80s were less likely to complain about ageism than people in their 50s, 60s and 70s.

Dr Marlene Krasovitsky, the head of EveryAGE Counts, said the results were a cause for concern.

“The fact that seven out 10 Australians consider ageism to be a serious problem should make all of us sit up and take notice,” Dr Krasovitsky said.

“By zooming in on different age brackets among older Australians, we find that ageism affects people in different ways,” she said.

Dr Krasovitsky said the polling showed people in their 50s and 60s were more likely to experience ageism when they were applying for jobs.

Meanwhile, she said those in their 80s or 90s were more likely to experience ageism in the health care sector.

“It’s interesting to note that those in their 50s and 60s are significantly more likely to say ageism is a serious problem than those who are older,” Dr Krasovitsky said.

“Perhaps this reflects a greater willingness to resist ageism among the newer generation.”

“If so, this is a welcome development that policy makers should take careful note of.”