Jesper Schulze, Yannick Helgers
The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency in Germany commissioned a study on ageism. The results are available since December 2022. The aim was to investigate clichés and prejudices against older people among the German population. Anti-discrimination officer Ferda Ataman and her office recognized that this issue is highly relevant to society.
In fact, the study was able to confirm that older people are often denied the ability to perform or adapt. For example, about 30 percent of all respondents called for older people to give up professional, political, or social roles in favour of the younger population. The term “Ageism,” which is relatively little known in Germany, is taken up in this concept and should be established in public discourse in the future in order to create visibility for the discrimination and disadvantage of older people.
These findings thus also show how valuable and necessary a project like “Smart Against Ageism” is in today’s world. Ageism is an issue that brings with it a great need for awareness and education. This education is an important first step to create more positive associations regarding older adults in society in the future. “SAA” can start there and make a positive contribution in the long term.
You can visit the English version of the website of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency for further information: https://www.antidiskriminierungsstelle.de/EN/homepage/homepage-node.html