October 18, 2024, 1:37 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
Do you think age discrimination at work mainly affects older women? A study now shows that women under 30, in particular, feel disadvantaged because of their age. Carmen Dörfler explains what it’s all about.
Imagine a friend confides in you about wanting to pivot her career in her mid-40s and start anew. What would your reaction be? What thoughts would cross your mind? “Is she crazy? At that age? She doesn’t need to start again now!” Something along those lines? If so, you are engaging in age discrimination.
Assuming a more supportive stance, you and your peers choose not to dwell on age, instead offering encouragement to your friend. After completing her training or further education, she’s eager to dive into her new field, armed with knowledge and a strong commitment. Yet, she finds that the job market emphasizes “support for our young, motivated team,” with a clear preference for youth. Here, too: Age discrimination.
The study reveals that age discrimination disproportionately impacts young women
Of course, we are not saying that women over 40 are old; quite the opposite. Nevertheless, age discrimination affects them, whether at work or in everyday transactions. (Have you ever tried to take out a loan after a certain age without paying horrendous interest rates?) Men are not excluded from this problem either. But would you have thought that age discrimination mainly affects women under the age of 30?
This was uncovered in a recent report by the consultancy firm McKinsey & Company in America. The study entitled “Women in the world of work” is the largest of its kind in America. More than 480,000 people were asked about their experiences in the workplace. For this year’s edition, data from the last ten years was analyzed to identify developments. And these were more than surprising.
According to the report, younger women under 30 are twice as often of the opinion that their age is interpreted to their disadvantage when it comes to promotions. 42 percent of the under-30s surveyed feel this way, while “only” 21 percent of women over 40 have this problem.
Men under 30 hardly have this problem
For men under 30, the issue seems to be of minor concern, affecting only eleven percent. From the age of 40, however, the experienced age discrimination increases to 23 percent, which is two percentage points more than women in the same age group.
What can age discrimination look like for young women?
But why are women under 30 particularly affected by age discrimination? This may sound contradictory at first, but many of us have experienced it ourselves. Have you ever had a job interview in which you were asked whether you have or want children?
Herein lies the crux of the issue. This line of questioning isn’t even permissible during the hiring process, raising doubts about the desirability of such a workplace. Many employers assume that women under 30 will want to have children soon and will, therefore, get pregnant quickly. They are, therefore, not hired or promoted “to be on the safe side.” The German Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency is also aware of this problem. In 2023, 14 percent of requests for advice related to age.
New research results Study proves that emotional stress can affect menstruation
"Tradwife" trend Traditional roles make people unhappy in the long term, according to new study
Women more often affected than men The most common types of headaches explained
Higher-earning men see no problems with equal rights for women in the workplace
The study also asked about companies’ efforts in terms of inclusion. When asked how the opportunities for growth and development for women had changed, 71% of men said they had improved. However, only 60 percent of women see it that way, and the figure is four percentage points lower for women of color. Consequently, men in senior positions perceive the greatest strides in the advancement of women in the workplace. On the other hand, they are also the least aware of the barriers that women face in this regard, as the study shows.