AARP New Jersey Age Discrimination Survey

New Jersey residents age 40 and older believe that employers found guilty of age discrimination should be required to pay the legal fees of those they have discriminated against, and that workers have a right to know, before being asked to sign away their rights, the ages and job classifications of those offered a buyout, compared to those not being offered such an incentive during a downsizing.

The telephone survey of 801 age 40+ New Jersey residents also found that

• Nearly 4 in 10 have had a personal experience with one or more kinds of age discrimination in the workplace, whether it was themselves or someone close to them.
• New Jerseyans clearly feel that older workers should not be forced to retire because of age, and that most older workers perform as well on the job as younger workers.
• Over 8 in 10 say it is more or equally important to prevent age discrimination compared to other forms of discrimination.

The survey was conducted between April 5 and April 14, 2000 and the report prepared by Katherine Bridges of AARP Knowledge Management. (18 pages)