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Carol Vorderman on Gateway 97.8

22nd August 2019
Posted by Aston Avery

A third of Brits (34%) admit to regularly discriminating against others because of their age, according to new research of 4000 people by SunLife released today. It found that the places people are most likely to experience ageism to be shops (16%), at work (31%) and public transport (10%).

On average, British adults use a ‘casually ageist’ remark in conversation twice every day  . Those in their thirties are most guilty of using ageist language, with almost half  (48%) admitting to being ageist.  Someone in their twenties (46%) is also twice as likely to discriminate based on age compared to someone in their 70s (20%).

While more than half of the over 50s surveyed believe that ageist language like this is unintentional (58%), the  majority say it makes them feel less valued (68%), unhappy (60%) and alienated (52%). In just one week, more than 2,400 ageist comments posted on social media sites in the UK, with phrases like ‘old fart’, ‘grumpy old man/woman’, and ‘old hag’ the most prevalent.

Aston spoke to Carol Vorderman, TV legend to see what can be done about this and also how this can be tackled.