Last updated 12:52, Wednesday, 21 May 2008

MORE than 1,000 people have demanded equal treatment for older folk by signing a petition to the government calling for age discrimination to be outlawed.

PROTEST: Furness residents deliver the age discrimination petition to Barrow and Furness MP John Hutton (centre) at his constituency offices SUBMITTED PICTURE

Discrimination on the grounds of age outside the workplace is still legal in the UK.

Help the Aged is deeply concerned that, despite older people suffering ageism on a daily basis, the government will turn a blind eye to the issue in the forthcoming Equality Bill, and not include specific legislation to outlaw such prejudice.

The charity is warning that failure to legislate would be a massively missed opportunity.

Petitioning took place in March at Barrow Market Hall.

Peggy Taylor, of Rawlinson Street, Barrow, who collected the signatures, said: “I was surprised by how many younger people signed the petition.

“They were asking questions and they did agree discrimination exists and needs to be legislated against.

“I said to John Hutton: ‘I feel we’re looked upon as if we’re in God’s waiting room’.

“I feel the government treats pensioners as short-term voters.

“But there are other pensioners coming along behind us and things have to change.

“The minister gave us full assurance that this would be brought to light.”

Figures, revealed by Help The Aged, show almost two-thirds of the population believe the government does not take seriously pensioners’ needs, and that this attitude has fuelled a sense of fear and rejection in both the old and the young.

Research shows three in five adults think that the older people get, the worse they are treated by society.

And the same number of younger people, especially aged between 25 and 45, were worried about how they would be treated when they hit retirement age.

Esther Foreman, campaigns manager for Help the Aged, said: “We’re delighted that in such a short space of time, so many people in Barrow have sent a clear signal that the government must act to stamp out ageism for good. Help the Aged hopes this clear message from John Hutton’s constituents will encourage him to take action and legislate against ageism.

“We live in a society where racism and sexism are not tolerated, yet age prejudice is tolerated and even legal in the provision of goods, facilities and services.

“This cannot be allowed to continue – the government must make age discrimination outside the workplace illegal immediately.”

As part of its Just Equal Treatment campaign, the charity has pushed for the forthcoming Equality Bill to include proposals for legislation against age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services – including health and social care services.In addition to new legislation against age discrimination being introduced in the Equality Bill, Help the Aged also wants the public sector equality duty extended to include age so older people’s needs are taken into account in public services.