Age Discrimination

• 60 per cent of older people in the UK agree that age discrimination exists in the daily lives of older people.
• 53 per cent of adults agree that once you reach very old age, people tend to treat you as a child.
• 52 per cent of older people agree that those who plan services do not pay enough attention to the needs of older people.
• 68 per cent of older people agree that politicians see older people as a low priority.
• 65 per cent of older people believe age discrimination still exists in the workplace.
• 76 per cent of older people believe the country fails to make good use of the skills and talents of older people.
• 97 per cent of annual travel insurance policies impose an upper age limit.
• In a study of patients at a stroke until between 2004 and 2006, four per cent of patients age 75 and above were given an MRI scan, compared to 26 per cent of those under 75.
• Non-employment amongst people aged 50 to 69 could be costing the economy up to £30 billion per year.

• It is estimated that more than 500,000 older people in the UK are abused (roughly five per cent of the older population).
• Every hour, over 50 older people are neglected or abused in their own homes by family members, friends, neighbours or care workers.
• In a study based on 10,000 phone calls to a help-line up to 2004, the proportion of calls concerning the different types of elder abuse identified was as follows: psychological (34 per cent), financial (20 per cent), physical (19 per cent), sexual (3 per cent). 44 per cent of callers reported multiple abuse.