Reassessing the Age Discrimination in Employment Act

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) became law in 1967. The original Act prohibited discrimination on the basis of age for persons age 40-65; subsequent amendments raised the upper age limit to 70 in 1978 and eliminated it altogether in 1986. A great deal of research has focused on assessing the effectiveness of the ADEA in combating age discrimination in the labor market in decades past. In the future the challenges that need to be met by the ADEA may change in fundamental ways because of the aging of the population. The ADEA has the potential to encourage the continued employment of older Americans who desire to keep working, and conversely, to discourage discriminatory behavior that might reduce the employment of these individuals. … Back to Article