This is what we must fight against
March 4, 2011 Leave a comment
Yesterday an email came into my inbox. It was the newsletter for smallbusiness.co.uk and its subject line said simply “More old people in work”.
Blunt? It would be difficult to imagine how it could have been more direct – or more insulting.
The story, of course, related to the latest ONS statistics showing that the number of people aged 65 or over in full-time employment has more than doubled in the last decade to 870,000.
Why the journalist (or editor) responsible couldn’t have used a little more accuracy and written “More over 65s in work” is beyond me.
The current title is as offensive as saying “More fat people in work”.
Now that the red mist is starting to clear I’ll add it to my list of examples (for training and writing purposes) of how ageism is entrenched in our society. Any other examples always welcome…
