As some of you already know from experience it isn’t always easy for an older person to get a job once he is out of work or after he retires. This is due to the fact that given a choice most employers will hire a younger worker in preference to a middle-aged or older worker. (more…)

The difficulty which an older worker has in finding a job is also directly related to the condition of the labor market at the time he looks for work. (more…)

It’s remarkable how pervasive the relatively recent notion of retirement has become. Retirement as we now know it didn’t exist prior to the 1930s. Social Security was developed and promoted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Dealers as a way to convince older workers to retire in order to open up jobs for young people during the Great Depression. Since then Social Security benefits have been expanded dramatically. (more…)

Virtually all industrialized countries have enacted legislation prohibiting discrimination in employment or occupation on the basis of race, religion, sex and various other grounds. Very few have laws banning age discrimination.

Among those that do, the United States has the best-established legislation. Age discrimination laws have been adopted at the federal level and by most states. The principal federal legislation is the (more…)