A 58-year-old accountant applies for a job. The interviewer smiles, asks about retirement plans, and never calls back. That is ageism: prejudice or discrimination based on a person's age. It targets the young and the old, though older adults face it more often in workplaces and healthcare settings.

The term was coined by gerontologist Robert Butler in 1969. He compared it to racism and sexism, arguing that age prejudice is just as damaging and just as institutionalized. Stereotypes paint older people as forgetful, slow, or resistant to change. Younger workers get labeled lazy or inexperienced.

Where it shows up

• Hiring: older applicants screened out despite qualifications
• Healthcare: symptoms dismissed as normal aging
• Media: older characters portrayed as comic or helpless
• Policy: mandatory retirement ages in some countries

Ageism harms mental health, shortens lives, and costs economies billions in lost productivity. Unlike race or gender, age is a category everyone eventually joins.