Working Paper: NBER ID: w14317
Authors: David Neumark
Abstract: 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.
Keywords: age discrimination; employment; population aging; ADEA
JEL Codes: J14; J71; J78
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| ADEA (J78) | reduction of explicit upper age limits for hiring (J78) |
| focus on terminations (J63) | effectiveness in encouraging hiring of older workers (J78) |
| aging population (J14) | relevance and application of the ADEA (J78) |
| ADEA enforcement (J78) | employment landscape and employer behavior towards older workers (J29) |
| ADEA (J78) | deter hiring of older workers (J71) |