It's ageism, more than sexism or racism, that typifies Britain

People in Britain are more likely to discriminate against you because of your age than for the colour of your skin or your gender, new research showed on Tuesday.

The first national survey of age-related prejudice, carried out among 1,843 people, showed that 29 per cent had reported suffering age discrimination -- a higher proportion than for any other kind of prejudice, including sexism and racism.

'Ageism is the most pervasive form of prejudice experienced in the UK population and that seems to be true pretty much across gender, ethnicity and religion divides -- people of all types experience it,ำ said Dominic Abrams, professor of social psychology at the University of Kent.

Speaking in Dublin at the British Association for the Advancement of Science annual festival, Abrams said the findings of the poll were particularly relevant given recent estimates that, by 2041, nearly 40 per cent of the British population would be aged over 60 years.

The survey, compiled for the University of Kent and Age Concern, showed that people usually saw youth as ending at 49 and old age beginning at 65. Women, however, judge that youth ends almost five years later and old age begins three years later than men do.

The poll revealed that older people were perceived as being friendlier than younger ones, but younger people were seen as more competent and capable. าOlder people are seen basically as doddery but dear, and young people perhaps as clever but callous,ำ said Abrams.

He said society needed to guard against าthe essentially sympathetic but actually patronising forms of ageismำ which treated older people as incompetent but lovable. And while respondents tended to believe organisations avoided employing older people to protect their image, nearly half of those between the ages of 25 and 65 said they would not be happy with a boss under the age of 30.