Current findings from the German Ageing Survey show that 7.7 per cent of people in the second half of life feel discriminated against due to their age – this corresponds to one in thirteen people in Germany. There are also clear differences when looking at the correlations with income and health.
Berlin/Germany, March 17, 2025. The German Ageing Survey asked about perceived age discrimination in the last twelve months. The survey also asked about areas in which disadvantage was experienced: People felt particularly frequently disadvantaged when it came to medical care (3.7%) and working or looking for work (3.6%), followed by everyday life (3.0%) and money matters (2.3%), with visits to the authorities (1.5%) mentioned less frequently. Almost half of the people who had experienced discrimination mentioned several areas of life in which they had experienced this.
Further analyses showed that people on low incomes feel disadvantaged significantly more often than people with higher incomes – both when working/looking for work and when receiving medical care and in everyday life. The same applies to people with limited health – this is particularly problematic as they are particularly dependent on good medical care.
Svenja Spuling, first author of the study, categorises the findings: ‘When interpreting the results, it should be noted that perceived age discrimination is being analysed here. However, awareness of negative images of age and age-discriminatory behaviour is comparatively low in society as a whole. It is therefore possible that there is less awareness of the problem of age-discriminatory behaviour: unjustified disadvantage based on age is perhaps not perceived as discrimination and is therefore not mentioned in our study. It can therefore be assumed that, at 7.7 per cent, we are underestimating the problem.’
The fact that one in thirteen people in the second half of life experience and report age discrimination makes it clear that there is a need for political and social action, precisely because experiencing age discrimination has far-reaching consequences for the well-being, health and longevity of those affected. At a societal level, the costs lie primarily in the unrealised potential of older people, for example in the world of work or in terms of volunteering.
Political measures could include, for example, combating negative age stereotypes, rethinking structural conditions (such as arbitrary age limits) and sensitising healthcare staff. The Age Images programme of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth is already working towards more complex, i.e. differentiated and diverse images of age. The Federal Government’s Ninth Report on Ageing also deals with ageism and proposes countermeasures, e.g. educational formats on the subject of age, especially for younger population groups, intergenerational programmes that promote contact between older and younger people, as well as targeted awareness campaigns to combat ageism. This can benefit not only older people, but also society as a whole – but most of all certain risk groups such as people at risk of poverty or people with health problems.
The detailed results can be found in: Spuling, S.M., Weinhardt, M., Mavi, L. (2025). Perceived age discrimination in the second half of life [DZA Aktuell 02/2025]. Berlin: German Centre of Gerontology. (https://doi.org/10.60922/2tdb-b513)
The German Ageing Survey (DEAS) is a representative cross-sectional and longitudinal survey of people in the second half of life aged 40 and over. For almost three decades, the study has regularly surveyed people as they move into old age. The German Ageing Survey is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ).
Original publication:
Spuling, S.M., Weinhardt, M., Mavi, L. (2025). Wahrgenommene Altersdiskriminierung in der zweiten Lebenshälfte [DZA Aktuell 02/2025]. Berlin: Deutsches Zentrum für Altersfragen. (https://www.dza.de/detailansicht/wahrgenommene-altersdiskriminierung)
ImageSource
Institut für Altersforschung, Wahrgenommene Altersdiskriminierung im Jahr 2023