The Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Challenge of Population Aging

David Neumark

NBER Working Paper No. 14317
Issued in September 2008
NBER Program(s):Economics of Aging

This paper reviews evidence on age discrimination in U.S. labor markets and on the effects of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) in combating this discrimination. It focuses on the challenge of population aging facing the U.S. economy in coming decades. Combating age discrimination is likely to help in meeting this challenge by encouraging employment of older individuals. But the paper also explores how rapid aging of the population protected by the ADEA might inhibit the ADEA's effectiveness, and raises questions about possible changes in age discrimination policies and enforcement that could enhance the ability of the ADEA to mitigate some of the adverse consequences of population aging.

A non-technical summary of this paper is available in the 2008 number 3 issue of the NBER Bulletin on Aging and Health. You can sign up to receive the NBER Bulletin on Aging and Health by email.

Acknowledgments

Machine-readable bibliographic record - MARC, RIS, BibTeX

Document Object Identifier (DOI): 10.3386/w14317

Published: D. Neumark, 2009. "The Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Challenge of Population Aging," Research on Aging, vol 31(1), pages 41-68.

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