20 October 2009 – Publication of DWP Research Report 599: Attitudes to age in Britain 2004-08

A new report published today provides insights into people’s attitudes to age by examining their assumptions and expectations about age and ageing in Britain between 2004 and 2008. These attitudes have important implications for individual well-being, for age equality and for social cohesion. Understanding attitudes to age is essential if we are to develop appropriate strategies for an ageing population.

The key findings were:

• There were very large age differences in perceptions of 'old age', however on average respondents judged that youth ends at 45 years and old age starts at 63 years of age. The trend is for older people to judge the end of youth and start of old age to be much later in life than did younger people.
• Half of the respondents (48 per cent) viewed age discrimination as a serious issue. Women, respondents from white ethnic backgrounds and higher social classes were less likely to think people were written off as old at 50, they were more likely to be aware that discrimination against people over 70 exists and is a serious issue.
• Across all age groups ageism (prejudice or discrimination against someone because of their age) is experienced more commonly than any other form of prejudice with one in four (26 per cent) respondents reporting this experience. There is a declining trend with 52 per cent of people age 16-24 and 17 per cent of those 80 plus reporting experiences of ageism.
• Age discrimination is expressed differently toward younger and older people. Stereotypically older people are viewed as warmer and more moral, but less competent whereas younger people are considered to be more capable but less warm and less moral.
• One in five (22 per cent) respondents perceived people over 70 as posing an economic threat (taking out more from the economy than they have or currently put in). Younger respondents (36 per cent) perceived this economic threat more than did older respondents.
• The majority of respondents viewed older people in a positive light. However nine per cent expressed indirect prejudice against those over 70 years of age and a similar proportion did not feel it was important to control their prejudice against other age groups.
• There was significant social separation between older and younger people. Sixty nine per cent of respondents regarded people under 30 and over 70 as having little or nothing in common. There was change over the survey years towards seeing the groups as having more in common. The findings also suggest that as people live longer they may become increasingly isolated from younger generations with fewer than a third of respondents aged over 70 having friends aged under 30.
• Attitudes to old age were more positive in regions with a higher proportion of older people, suggesting the local context also makes a difference to attitudes to age. For example, London had the smallest proportion of people aged over 65 compared with younger people compared to other regions and was more likely to perceive people over 70 and under 30 as belonging to two separate age groups. Respondents from regions with higher proportions showed less indirect prejudice and more comfort with having a boss over 70.

The findings in this report are based on secondary analysis of data from five national surveys (with a total of 6000 respondents). In particular the analysis aimed to examine:

• The importance of age to people’s self-concept, and what determines how they judge others as 'young' or 'old';
• Beliefs that age prejudice and discrimination are a problem;
• Personal experience of age discrimination;
• Stereotypes that exist about older and younger people, and their implications;
• Beliefs that the ageing population endangers employment prospects, access to services and resources, or endangers the culture and way of life of all people;
• The expression of age prejudice;
• Amount of intergenerational friendship, beliefs that younger and older people share a single community and intergenerational divide.

Notes to Editors

1. This research is published on 20 October 2009 as part of the DWP Research Report Series as Research Report number 599 'Attitudes to age in Britain 2004-08'.
2. The authors are Professor Dominic Abrams, Tiina Eilola and Hannah Swift from the Centre for the Study of Group Processes, Department of Psychology, University of Kent.
3. The report draws on data from a series of five nationally representative face-to-face interview surveys sponsored by Age Concern England in 2004, 2006 and 2008, and by the Women and Equality Unit in 2005.
4. The DWP research report 599 can be found at: research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rrs-index.asp

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