Is age discrimination lawful?

tony_lavelle

I am 59 and no longer gainfully employed. I cannot understand why over 60s are entitled to so many discounts on train travel etc just for having lived longer. These days surely there's no reason for the presumption that over 60s are poorer than younger people. Many over 60s have well-paid jobs and those who have retired are likely to have better pensions than I ever hope to get.

I am not talking about insurance, where age does have a bearing on what you're paying for, namely risk. Train tickets, cinema, hairdressers and even fish and chip shops have discriminatory pricing.

I ask you, is it actually legal to discriminate by age for the price of the same product or service?

Indout96

price of the same product or service?

But is it the same ??
Fish & chips are normally smaller portions
Cinema - off peak times
a lot of places give discounts to unemployed including swimming baths is it legal to give them a discount or do you just want to single out pennsioners ??

Strider590

I think you fail to see the wood for the tree's......

They offer reduced prices in order to gain sales/business they might not otherwise get.
Travel wise, bus passes, train discounts, it's the same thing. The younger, more gainfully employed generally have little or no choice when it comes to transport costs, thus can be charged as much as they like. Those up near to retirement don't have to travel and as such need attractive offers to entice them.

Lum

In practice nobody cares about age discrimination that adversely affects younger people (e.g. salary etc.) but that really isn't what the over 60s discounts are about.

In percentage terms, there are more older people living in poverty than younger people, so it's reasonable to make offers like this. The alternative would involve chip shops and hairdressers having to means test all their customers to see if they're sufficiently poor to qualify for a discounted lump of cod in batter. If you can afford to retire below the age of 60 you probably aren't that badly off and are unlikely to need those discounts to get by. If you've become unemployed at 59 then yes, you are pretty much screwed sorry.

But even that still isn't the whole story, it's not about businesses being altruistic and trying to help out pensioners in poverty. Older people tend to have more free time during the day and many of these discounts are off peak only. This is to encourage older people to come at the quiet times and thus make the peak times a little less crowded for those people who do not have so much free time.

Imagine what it would be like if all the pensioners decided to stop going to the cinema during the daytime on weekdays and instead went on a saturday afternoon, the same time that all the working parents are trying to take their kids to the cinema. The place would be full and you wouldn't be able to get a seat.

It's a simple business decision to get as many paying people as possible through a fixed-size premises in the most efficient manner possible. The fact that it looks like an altruistic move to help poor disadvantaged pensioners is just a handy side effect. The worst off pensioners can't afford fish&chips or cinema tickets anyway!

pinkteapot

At most, you've got 364 days until you're eligible for the discounts OP.

Dave_C_2

tony_lavelle wrote: »

I am 59 and no longer gainfully employed.

Perhaps your lack of gainful employment is age related?

Either way next year be grateful for the sex discrimination act. This means you get all of the goodies at age 60 (when women reach state retirement age) instead of age 65 (when men reach state retirement age)

Dave

tony_lavelle

What many respondents have suggested could be better achieved by offering off-peak discounts or smaller portions. Why make this age-specific? When I go to the local garden centre or chip shop and see that the SAME PRODUCT as I'm buying is being sold at a discount to over-60s it seems very unfair and I wonder if it is even legal.

In times of full unemployment when the retirement age was a fixed quantity this made sense but not any more. Where I live the over-60s are the wealthiest (many on final salary pensions, remember them?) and those working and with children are hardest up.

dzug1

Discrimination is totally legal in this country except in a few specific areas where it has been outlawed.

Dave_C_2

tony_lavelle wrote: »

What many respondents have suggested could be better achieved by offering off-peak discounts or smaller portions. Why make this age-specific? When I go to the local garden centre or chip shop and see that the SAME PRODUCT as I'm buying is being sold at a discount to over-60s it seems very unfair and I wonder if it is even legal.

Yes it's perfectly legal. Live with it. You have less than a year to wait.

Where I live the over-60s are the wealthiest (many on final salary pensions, remember them?)

That's because us pensioners on final salary schemes have worked all our lives contributing into a pension scheme. It's called planning for the future. Perhaps you should have done this

And those working and with children are hardest up.

Been there, seen it, done it, got the nappies to prove it. It's always been the same.

Dave

McKneff

Can you tell me where this garden centre is where you get a discount off plants.

Pensioners dont get a discount off fish and chips, they pay the full price for a smaller portion.

Not long to wait now pet anyway.:D

You wont get your OAP discounts anyway at 60, you will get them when you draw your State pension. Ive lost count of when cos the government keeps changing the goal posts.

Dave_C_2

McKneff wrote: »

You wont get your OAP discounts anyway at 60, you will get them when you draw your State pension.

As a male you can get a bus pass at age 60. IME flashing your bus pass at entry points to attractions etc. does get you concessionary/OAP rates. Strangely enough hairdressers ask if I'm 65.

And a bus pass does wonders for your fuel consumption

Dave