In the UK today, age-related stereotypes abound. ‘Little old ladies’, ‘sulky teenagers’ and even ‘threenagers’ are in common parlance and are, many would argue, harmless ways of poking fun at downsides associated with a particular age. Yet age-related discrimination is still rife, with older people, for example, less likely to be retained by their employers, despite this being illegal (see box). Is there a link?
Bias against older people was first imaginatively brought to public attention by Patricia Moore in the 1970s, an industrial designer who was horrified to be told ‘we don’t design for’ people with arthritis. Then 26, she launched a daring experiment, dressing up as a woman in her eighties and spending three years travelling around the US and Canada. She wore fogged-up glasses, simulated arthritis by binding up her hands and feet, and wore shoes that were uneven. Based on her experiences, she transformed product design of household items and has become a campaigner for senior citizens.
This story is recounted in the book Developing Empathy in the Early Years by Helen Garnett, who makes the important link between challenging bias about people and being able to see their point of view – one way of thinking about empathy.
The stereotypes created about both old and young generations are highlighted in the book Social Inequality by Louise Warwick-Booth. ‘Age-related inequalities vary across societies,’ she says. ‘Younger groups of people are seen negatively in terms of risk, behaviours and perceived moral decline. Comparatively, older generations are constructed as having “had it all” and being expensive, with such discourse feeding intergenerational divisions.’
Bridging the divide to foster a better mutual understanding and respect is being formally recognised as a positive in the early years sector, as the development of intergenerational projects shows. As well as its implications for empathy and understanding, a study published by United For All Ages last month claimed co-locating early years and elderly care could improve children’s life chances and solve ‘tough issues’, including poor health, low educational attainment and lack of social mobility.
Prejudice can come in other forms. Parents or staff who are particularly young can face unconscious bias about their abilities.
Being ‘age-blind’ requires practitioners to challenge their own biases. While there is a lot of anti-bias literature available, there are also a range of practical initiatives that managers can take.
RECRUITMENT
The average age of childcare workers is 39, according to an Education Policy Institute (EPI) study published last month. More than a quarter of childcare workers are aged over 50, compared with a UK workforce average of 31 per cent. But the report warns that as the workforce ages, fewer younger employees are achieving the same level of qualifications.
Ceeda managing director Jo Verrill suggests the sector should stop targeting young school-leavers and look for opportunities among returners to the labour market. She also sees potential in encouraging qualified people to switch careers, particularly from health and social care.
Ms Verrill says early years settings could become better at recruiting. ‘Effective recruitment targeting specific messages at relevant audiences is something that requires a fair bit of knowledge,’ she says. ‘Specialist knowledge around marketing and HR are less common in smaller organisations that struggle to deal with problems on many fronts. Cascading good practice elsewhere in the sector would help to improve that effort across the board.’
Looking at other sectors can be fruitful: B&Q and care organisation Home Instead have targeted local community groups such as Women’s Institutes, Rotary clubs and church groups, creating a dedicated jobs website that prominently features profiles of older people, and used Facebook – now the most popular social network with the over-50s (see Further information).
Diminishing pay is also potentially pricing-out older workers. The sector has suffered a pay reduction of nearly five per cent in real terms since 2013, compared with an increase of 2.5 per cent for all working women, according to the EPI. Aurora Academies Trust director of early years Sam Attwater says she has lost good staff who were offered jobs paying more for fewer hours in supermarkets.
‘For those of us that are older and still here, we’re not doing it for the money,’ she says. However, offering low pay means older workers are less likely to apply for jobs.
Old Station Nursery managing director Sarah Steel believes early years is an industry that positively discriminates. ‘We actively like to have a mix of ages,’ she says. ‘If anything, we discriminate towards older people.’ She says ages can be diverse throughout job grades, because people who have worked in childcare for many years do not necessarily want to progress into management. ‘A lot want to be hands-on practitioners,’ she says.
Ms Steel says one way nurseries can ensure they manage all ages in the workforce fairly is to offer qualifications universally. She says several older members of her staff are currently doing apprenticeships. Government statistics show a third of all apprenticeships started in 2016/17 were by people aged 25 and above – almost the same proportion as those aged 19 to 24.
It is also important to support the changing physical needs of older workers. A Nursery World investigation in 2015 found more than 70 per cent of early years workers experienced work-related physical strain at least once a week. ‘We do a manual handling review and make sure there are comfortable chairs or sofas for feeding,’ says Ms Steel. ‘At mealtimes we make sure we have low-height adult chairs, not little chairs.’
Reflective questions
1. Are my recruitment practices non-age-discriminatory?
2. Do I, and do my team, treat staff of all ages in the same way?
3. Do I treat parents of all ages the same way?
4. Do I provide stories and resources that challenge age stereotypes, and do I use them in a way that is free of stereotypes/bias?
Further information
See part 3 of Nursery World’s recruitment series, ‘Reeled in’, for tips on recruiting the over-50s.
Intergenerational empathy
Throughout the academic year beginning September 2017, six children from Oakwood Primary Academy Nursery in East Sussex paid weekly visits to elderly residents at Eastbourne Residential Care Home. Each was chosen because they had a particular challenge that nursery staff wanted to address before they started Reception. ‘Amelia’, four, was painfully shy with other children.
The sessions involved free-play time, circle time, and an activity such as baking or arts and crafts.
‘Instantly she made relationships with the residents, but then wanted her peer group to join in,’ says Aurora Academies Trust director of early years Sam Attwater. ‘The more praise she was getting, and the more the children were excited to be with her, things changed. She started to lead groups, and reminded them to get [ready] before the minibus came to go to the home.’
Ms Attwater believes Amelia’s progress happened because of a unique relationship children can have with elderly people. ‘They didn’t want anything from her,’ she says. ‘They were fantastic at engaging her in a different way. They had more time for her.’
She observed during the programme that children learned to be more patient and better at listening. ‘There’s a vast difference in Reception class now,’ she says of Amelia.
Recruitment: for all ages
The Equality Act 2010 includes clauses that ban age discrimination against adults, but a Women and Equalities Committee inquiry in 2018 found employers are, contrary to law, discriminating during recruitment.
Pre-school Learning Alliance HR business partner Michelle Brown explains how to avoid ageist practice:
‘In job adverts, avoid using language that may target particular age groups, such as “young” or “vibrant”. This could imply you do not wish older applicants to apply.
‘Make sure managers cannot discriminate, by concealing personal data such as dates of birth. Hiring should be based purely on experience, knowledge, skills and qualifications.
‘During an interview, do not ask age-related questions, such as requesting an extended number of years of experience. Questions should focus on skills relevant to the position and qualifications.
‘Training on diversity for staff should cover age, making sure they are aware not to stereotype against younger or older colleagues, and how to make unbiased decisions.
‘Typical stereotypes of older members could be, for example, negatively treating their views as unimportant, or positively considering them to be people with great wisdom. Children and young people can be negatively treated as individuals with little or nothing to contribute.
‘Encourage children to question and challenge stereotypes. For example, the image of a grandparent as an older, grey-haired adult, when in fact grandparents can be active adults in their forties.’
