Age discrimination in the US job market, especially for women

A new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research indicates the extent of age discrimination in the US.

The researchers, among them IZA World of Labor author David Neumark, conducted a field experiment using more than 40,000 fictional job applications in 12 cities, including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The applications covered job categories that both young and older people would be likely to apply for.

The study produced some stark results: applicants aged 49–51 got 18% fewer callbacks than those aged 29–31. Applicants aged 64–66 were even less successful, with 35% fewer callbacks.

For women though, the bias was even stronger. In the 49–51 age range, applicants received 29% fewer callbacks, rising to 47% in the 64–66 age range, when compared with 29–31 year-olds.

Ulf Rinne has looked at whether anonymous job applications can combat hiring discrimination. He argues that they have the potential to level the recruitment playing field, but that they are limited since they target one specific stage in the recruitment process and may postpone discrimination until later.

In addition, René Böheim finds that keeping older workers in the workforce does not harm the employment of younger workers—it is beneficial to both groups. He argues that loweringretirement age decreases incentives to train and invest in additional skills and so reduceseconomic growth.

Read more on this story at the Washington Post.

Related articles:
Anonymous job applications and hiring discrimination, by Ulf Rinne
Effect of early retirement schemes on youth employment, by René Böheim