Nearly 2 out of 3 Women Over Age 50 Face Discrimination​ (2025)

“I work in technology, so it’s a lot of younger people,” the woman said. “I try to keep up. I try to dress like everyone else, and I don’t like to wear my glasses at work, even though I have much better vision with my glasses, compared to my contacts. I don’t want to be viewed as older.”

Stereotypes about older workers

Women experience the bulk of age discrimination in the workplace, and ageism tends to be one of the most socially accepted types of discrimination, says Tetyana Shippee, a social gerontologist at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

Although hiring managers and employees have been drilled on the inappropriateness of racial bias, negative age stereotypes and ageist attitudes remain common, she observes. “I have witnessed it myself,” Shippee says. “Younger people assume I don’t know how to use technology. And even though age is not supposed to be discussed in hiring, I hear people say they don’t want someone who is too old because ‘we still want them to be vibrant and engaging.’ Across different spheres, I’ve also heard comments about wanting people who are going to ‘stay involved for a long time.’ ”

AARP Research

Research shows that stereotypes about older workers are wrong. Job performance generally improves with age, and older people are highly rated for their loyalty, reliability, leadership and organizational skills, and problem-solving abilities.

“Older workers have a lot to offer, but there is a lack of awareness,” Peña says. “What the world doesn’t realize is that age discrimination is costly not only for the person and their family but for the whole economy. People are living longer, and so many skills are being overlooked.”

Even younger women report age discrimination

Interestingly, the AARP survey reveals that it is not just older women who report age discrimination. Women under 50 were as likely to report being discriminated against because of their age, according to the poll.

Shippee says her own research has produced similar results, revealing a U-shaped curve when it comes to age discrimination of women: “From ages 18 to 30, women report age discrimination due to being too young. From your mid-30s to your mid-40s is a safe time. Then age discrimination starts to pick up again after age 50, and it’s especially high after 55-plus.”

Among working women who experience discrimination regularly, a whopping 88 percent (and 81 percent of those 50-plus) have felt pressured to look or act a certain way at work.

Much of the pressure that women feel is related to the need to look younger, says Yale psychologist Becca Levy, an antiaging researcher and author ofBreaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long and Well You Live. She notes that part of the blame lies with the beauty industry, which bombards women with ads for antiaging products, and part is due to a society that prizes youth.

“In Japan they celebrate aging, rather than thinking of it as something to fear,” Levy says. About 40 percent of respondents in the AARP survey said they feel pressure from social media to do cosmetic procedures such as dermal fillers and Botox, including 1 in 5 who said they feel “a great deal” or “a lot” of pressure to take such steps. Nearly half reported feeling pressure to dye their hair to cover the gray.

More than half of those polled (57 percent) reported at least some pressure to use makeup. But the physical-appearance change that generates the most pressure is weight loss, with 68 percent of women saying they feel pressure to shed pounds.

AARP

Minority women face the most bias

African American women reported the highest levels of discrimination in the AARP survey, with 70 percent of those 50-plus saying they experience discrimination regularly. On average, they experience four to five types of it, including bias related to their ethnicity/race/skin tone, social class, weight and age. And about 59 percent of Latina and 60 percent of Asian American/Pacific Islander respondents 50 and older said they are regularly discriminated against.