While
a
lot
of
the
conversation
regarding
the
2024
presidential
election
is
focused
on
the
historically
high
ages
of
the
two
expected
major
party
candidates,
the

aging
U.S.
workforce
often
faces
doubts
about
their
own
abilities
that
are
“crudely
conflating
old
age
with
physical
and
cognitive
capacity.”

This
is
according
to
a
recent


NextAvenue
column
co-written
by
two
aging
experts:
Robert
Espinoza,
CEO
at
the

National
Skills
Coalition
and
a
fellow
at
the


Brookings
Institution;
and
Leanne
Clark-Shirley,
president
and
CEO
of
the

American
Society
on
Aging.

Since
the
first

presidential
debate
roughly
two
weeks
ago,
discussions
pairing
age
and
fitness
for
the
presidency
have
dominated
the
political
landscape.
But
conflating
these
ideas
of
old
age
and
capacity
to
perform
required
tasks
of
a
job
is
“wrong,”
the
pair
writes. 

“Only
a
person’s
medical
team
can
offer
that
assessment,
and
age
alone
says
nothing
conclusive
about
one’s
physical
and
mental
health,”

the
pair
wrote.
“Further,
to
propose
age
limits
for
holding
office
with
no
consideration
for
individual
differences
is
grossly
ageist
and
discriminatory.”

On
top
of
this,
the
conversations
dominating
the
political
sphere
also
serve
to
divert
attention
“from
the
more
pressing
concerns”
facing
older
people,
the
authors
state.

“Chief
among
them
are
the
profound
employment
barriers
facing
older
workers,
a
growing
population
that
could
help
address
a
widespread
labor
shortage
if
our
government
properly
supported
them,”
the
column
reads.
“Yet
these
issues
are
glaringly
absent
from
the
election
discourse.”

The
55-and-older
population
encompassed
roughly
14%
of
the
U.S.
labor
force
in
2002,
but
that
share
is
expected
to
reach
24%
by
2032.
On
top
of
this,
people
75
and
older
are
the
largest-growing
segment
of
the
workforce,
according
to
data
from
the


Pew
Research
Center.

“This
trend
is
due
to
positive
factors,
such
as
healthier
profiles
and
more
age-friendly
jobs,
and
negative
factors,
including
more
rigid
retirement
plans
and
policy
changes
that
discourage
early
retirement,”
the
authors
said.
“Older
workers
personify
the
future
of
work,
and
let’s
face
it:
most
of
us
will
age
into
this
reality
if
we’re
not
there
already,
so
it
should
feel
personal.”

As
workers
grow
older,
they
often
face
discrimination
based
on
assumptions
about
their
age.
This
can
lead
to
older
workers
being
passed
over
for
advancement
opportunities,
with
the
assumption
that
“fresh
thinking”
is
needed
or
that
older
workers
are
more
expensive.

“Many
older
workers
deal
with
all
these
factors
and
have
always
worked
in
low-wage
jobs
with
limited
benefits
—
as
care
workers,
taxi
drivers,
food
servers,
grounds
maintenance
workers
and
many
others,
segregated
into
these
occupations
by
decades,
even
centuries,
of
racially
discriminatory
policies,”
the
column
explains.
“They
form
the

backbone
of
our
economy
and
are
essential
to
its
success,
yet
they
are
egregiously
neglected
by
government
at
all
levels.”

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