Opinion

Beating ageism with legislation

AS IN other parts of the UK, more and more people in Northern Ireland are living longer, healthier lives. Average life expectancy has increased by more than 11 years since 1950, and babies born today have a one in three chance of living to 100 years of age. This is good news. However, with people living longer, there is a need to make sure that our society is one in which older people feel valued and cherished, and where they have the same rights as everyone else to be protected from discrimination. Older people make a significant positive contribution across so many different aspects of life, economically and socially. My report, Appreciating Age, showed that the contributions made by older people in Northern Ireland through volunteering, caring, childcare and working will amount to almost £25 billion over the next 50 years. But too often these contributions go unacknowledged, and too often we hear about the ‘burden’ or ‘cost’ of ageing. Fair deal needed To challenge negativity around ageing, it is essential that legislation is in place to provide a fair deal for older people and that government takes positive steps to address this. One of the ways to address this is to ensure that older people cannot be discriminated against on the grounds of age. But many will be surprised to hear that it is legal to discriminate on the basis of age in relation to the provision of goods, facilities and services in Northern Ireland. NURSING OLDER PEOPLE

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Older people in Northern Ireland can be legally discriminated against. Now it is time for politicians to act to remedy this, says Claire Keatinge

The economic contribution that older people make through volunteering and childcare often goes unrecognised

Age discrimination happens every day in health and social care services, financial services and transport, to name a few examples. Older people are denied treatment, pay higher premiums for car and travel insurance, and often struggle to secure loans or mortgages. And sadly, all of this is done legally on the basis of their age. Legal protection from age discrimination is a vital part of how society should respect and reassure people. By committing to deliver legislation that would protect people from discrimination in relation to goods, facilities and services in the Programme for Government 20112015, the Northern Ireland Executive acknowledged the need to end legal discrimination on the grounds of age. Legislation is already in place across the rest of the UK and Republic of Ireland, and so this commitment would ensure that the rights and dignity of older people in Northern Ireland were on a par with those in neighbouring countries. But we recently learned that lack of political agreement means that the legislation may not go through as planned. This is a major setback for older people in Northern Ireland. As Commissioner for Older People, I am disappointed that their protection

appears to have been stalled by politicians, and that a real opportunity to move forward has been missed. Without legislation to prevent discrimination, older people will continue to be lawfully discriminated against to the extent that they can be denied life-improving or life-saving treatment, as well as some financial services. This is also a setback for encouraging positive attitudes towards ageing. How can we meaningfully promote the interests of older people while allowing them to continue to be discriminated against? We should be proud of our ageing society, and seek to make Northern Ireland a great place to grow older. We can only do this by ensuring that older people are treated with dignity and respect, and that they are afforded the same rights as everyone else. There is still time for government to show their commitment to older people and deliver on this important legislation – but they must act now. Claire Keatinge is Commissioner for Older People for Northern Ireland

Reference Commissioner for Older People for Northern Ireland (2014) Appreciating Age – Valuing the Positive Contributions made by Older People in Northern Ireland. COPNI, Belfast.

February 2015 | Volume 27 | Number 1 11

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