Age Discrimination

American society is aging as health care improves, the baby boom generation approaches retirement age, and the age for eligibility to draw full Social Security benefits rises. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age of the population rose five years from 1980 to 2005. The percentage of the U.S. population in the age range of 40 to 74 increased from 31.6% in 1980 to 38.6% in 2005. With the graying of the American population and the resulting greater awareness of the pervasiveness of age discrimination in society have come concerted efforts on the part of federal and state government to eliminate age discrimination in employment and higher education.

Older Americans have many avenues through which to contest age-based discrimination legally. At the federal level, ...