Marketing and advertising gurus as well as society at large delight in putting people into boxes depending on their age - childhood, teens, thirtysomethings etc, all of which groups cover a period of ten years or so. That is until you reach the age of fifty when you are put in the over fifties category with everyone from fifty to ninety.

What does it mean? Many will have retired but especially at the lower age limit many will still need to be in employment and will have to contend with the prejudices raised against age if they become unemployed. Common assumptions made about over-fifties job seekers are that they are resistant to change, are unable to adapt to modern technology, are prone to increased absenteeism due to poor health and lack ambition. Such assumptions mean that finding new employment is far harder for this group than others. Even where age discrimination legislation exists, the older worker is often discriminated against overtly. In the workplace this can mean such things as not gearing training courses to older workers. The result is that due to management practices, the assumptions become self-fulfilling.

Many in this age group will have raised a family and have grandchildren but trends towards parenthood in later life mean that for an increasing number it is not their grandchildren but their own children they are caring for.

Over fifty can mean being severely limited in regard to physical mobility due to increased medical problems or it can mean that one is as active as a person twenty years your junior.

The simple truth is there is no such thing as a typical over fifty, and yet as I have discovered, when you reach this pinnacle of life, it is the negative elements that the rest of society attributes to you rather than the positive.

Learn more about this author, Celia Craske.
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