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Age Discrimination
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When people here the word "Ageism" they tend to think it means bias towards the elderly, however it is not exclusive to this group as most young people will know.
Both the young and old are vulnerable sections of society, and it's appalling that practices exist to specifically limit the freedoms and rights we have purely based on how long we've been on planet earth.
In the law, age is used to make judgements on how capable a citizen you are even if you are living an 'adult-life'.
This can mean your rights and entitlements to basic needs such as equal pay, benefits, housing and employment rights are significantly reduced. In the private sector many companies such as insurance providers, banks, shops and leisure services provide a sub-standard service to younger people, or find excuses to charge us more (via price-fixing rackets) or refuse to offer us their goods and services altogether.
Young People are often victims of ageist policy and are excluded from a range of social roles and have restricted rights because of their age.
Ageism is very visible within most institutions, the police, the education system, employers and at home. However it's damage is short-term as people are constantly 'ageing'. As we grow older, the ageism decreases until we are start to 'get old'. Despite this there is still a great deal of unnecessary ageism within our society and it's about time we did something about it.
What we are doing
Although the Queer Youth Network exists to improve the lives of young people who are also Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered we are aware of the role of age discrimination has and how important it is to fight for the rights of all young people. We condemn ageism in all it's forms and will actively challenge ageism as much as possible.
Some may view our perspective as radical, but the bottom line on age discrimination in a civilised society like ours is; "There's NO excuse for it other than prejudice."
What we're doing:
- QYN is a member organisation of the British Youth Council and the Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE). Organisations that work with the government to ensure the view and rights of children and young people are respected.
In June 2008 the Children's Rights Alliance for England published a report "Analysis of children’s rights in England" that will be part of it' "Get Ready for Geneva" project which ill be presented by a young person to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in September 2008. The Queer Youth Network was the only LGBT Youth organisation that participated along with over 100 other groups from all over England. We argued the case for better support and services for LGBT Young People and this is mentioned prominently within the report which also identifies over 30 breaches of the convention by the British government.
Housing Benefit: Under 25's getting a poor deal!
Single Room Rent – The Case for Abolition Young people under 25 have long faced discrimination in the benefits system. Whilst claimants over 25 are assumed to need £57.45 per week to cover day to day living costs such as food, fuel and clothing, under 25’s are entitled to only £45.50. They are also excluded from Working Tax Credit. This discrimination is compounded for under 25’s renting in the private sector, by restricting their housing benefit to the average local rent for shared accommodation – known as the single room rent or SRR. •87% of all SRR claimants face a shortfall betweenwhat they receive in Housing Benefit and what they pay in rent, averaging £35.14 per week. This is over double the shortfall faced by other claimants. •There is a shortage of accommodation available to under 25’s which meet the SRR definition. •Charities working with young homeless people are unable to move people on to appropriate accommodation because of the impact of SRR. •The SRR puts young people at greater risk of social and financial exclusion, making it more difficult for them to find and sustain employment.
It is therefore vital that the Welfare Reform Bill is amended to abolish SRR under 25s restriction in the local housing market.
- Thanks to Citizens Advice for this extract
James McGovern MP (Dundee West, Labour) asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment the Government have made of the effect of the age discrimination clauses in the Equality Bill of the legality of the single room rent upper limit on housing benefit provisions for those aged under 25 years.
James Plaskitt (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions) replied:
"There are no clauses in the Equality Bill which introduce (or extend) protection against discrimination on grounds of age."
In 2000, the Liberal Democrats tabled an ammendment to the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Bill for which only 34 MP's supported but which was thrown out as 260 MP's - mostly Labour rejected it! Ludicrous.
It proposed:
We do not agree with the principle of making rates of benefit which distinguish those age 25 or over and those under 25. We consider that the consequences of the proposals could well be that some people dependent on benefits will face a choice between homelessness and living in accommodation of an unacceptably poor standard.
Under these proposals, many young people will suffer the double disadvantage of a cut in their housing benefit, leaving potentially large rent payments to be made up out of an already reduced income support level . . . Again, we share that view. We share the concern that the response of landlords is likely to be to withdraw from providing accommodation for young people.
We believe that the draconian regulations to restrict housing benefit to single people under 25 further constitutes a form of age discrimination within the means-tested benefits system, and is likely to force young people into unsuitable housing and lead to an increase in youth homelessness.--[ Official Report , 5 June 1996; Vol. 278, c. 619-23.]
Source:
The Public Whip
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Last updated
by: David on 31st August 2008
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