5 Ways AARP Is Fighting Age Discrimination

We’re making inroads to protect older workers and help people find meaningful job opportunities

Miriam Cross,

AARP

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Published October 07, 2025

Older adults are staying in the workforce longer than ever, whether it’s because they have found a calling that invigorates them or they want the income to age comfortably. But negative stereotypes of older workers persist.

About two-thirds of workers 50-plus have seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace, according to a 2025 AARP survey. Older job applicants may also be dismissed before they even reach the hiring stage if recruiters assume that their skills are outdated or that they are not up for a new challenge.

This problem has steep economic, financial and emotional costs for older adults, said Nancy LeaMond, AARP’s chief advocacy and engagement officer, as she testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging in September.

Moreover, research conducted by AARP and the Economist Intelligence Unit found that bias against older workers cost the U.S. economy an estimated $850 billion in gross domestic product in 2018, a number that could rise to $3.9 trillion by 2050.

“Simply put, sidelining workers is a loss we cannot afford,” LeaMond said at the time.

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While recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that older job seekers are having an easier time finding jobs than younger workers, age discrimination is still a cause for concern.

The 20-to-24 age group had the highest unemployment rate in August, at 9.2 percent, compared with 2.9 percent for those 55 and older. Still, the number of age discrimination complaints filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) suggests that age discrimination is on the rise.

Supporting older workers in their right to stay on the job has been embedded in AARP’s advocacy for decades. In the 1960s, AARP backed landmark legislation prohibiting age-based discrimination and helped extend those protections in the 1980s and 1990s. In recent years, AARP has supported bipartisan bills that give older workers a fair shot at fighting back when they are treated unfairly on the job and rallied on the state level to remove barriers in hiring.

Now, AARP continues to lobby Congress to protect older workers, but we are also doing much more, from joining class action lawsuits to securing commitments from companies to build a multigenerational workforce.

In connection with Ageism Awareness Day on Oct. 9, which calls attention to biases about aging, here are five ways AARP is working to ensure older generations are treated fairly and valued for the wealth of experience they bring to a job.

1. Backing legislation that reinforces worker rights

On a national scale, AARP is backing bipartisan bills that support older workers.

In May, AARP sent letters to the House and Senate endorsing the reintroduction of the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act. This legislation would restore protections, which a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision stripped away, that required older workers to prove their age was the sole reason they experienced an adverse employment action.

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AARP also threw its support behind two more bipartisan bills in September. The Protecting Older Americans Act lets workers choose to pursue age discrimination claims in court rather than being forced into arbitration. The Protect Older Job Applicants Act would expand protections under federal law to include people who are applying for jobs, even before they have reached the hiring stage.

The EITC for Older Workers Act, a bill AARP endorsed in an April letter, would eliminate the upper age cap for workers to qualify for the earned-income tax credit (EITC), which helps low- to moderate-income workers reduce their taxes. Currently, the tax credit is not available to most workers 65 and older. A fact sheet developed by AARP’s Public Policy Institute found that eliminating the age cap would benefit about 1.3 million taxpayers.

AARP has also been taking action on the state level. For example, we helped pass laws in Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware and Oregon that prohibit employers from asking age-related information on job applications.

AARP Oregon helped defeat a bill this year that would have created a tax credit for employers who took on qualifying apprentices between ages 16 and 30 — thus sidelining older workers.

2. Taking employers to court for unfair treatment

Over the past five years, the AARP Foundation has joined nearly a dozen age-related legal cases, focusing on those that concern employment laws, policies and practices.

“We aim to set legal precedents or clarify important aspects of age discrimination law,” says William Alvarado Rivera, the AARP Foundation’s senior vice president for litigation. “Our litigation also helps raise awareness about ageism in the workplace and promote fair treatment, as well as influence broader policy discussions around age discrimination, retirement security and workplace equity.”

In 2023, AARP Foundation lawyers joined a pending class action charge by REAL Women in Trucking with the EEOC. This nonprofit, which advocates for women truck drivers, alleged that Meta Platforms Inc., Facebook’s parent company, targeted young, male users with online ads for trucking jobs rather than expanding its range to other demographics.

Ageist stereotypes predate the internet, wrote AARP Foundation lawyers in a filing with the EEOC, but this case demonstrates how “algorithms and AI can swiftly perpetuate ageist notions in subtler but equally injurious ways.”

The AARP Foundation also stepped in when a 67-year-old cybersecurity professional was rejected for positions he appeared to be qualified for, all because the job posting called for a “recent graduate.”

The class action lawsuit, which was launched in June 2024 against aerospace and defense contractor RTX Corp. (formerly Raytheon), alleged that the company regularly violated laws such as the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act by seeking recent college graduates or those with less than two years of work experience — a condition an older worker could never meet. The parties continue to litigate in a U.S. District Court.

3. Urging companies to rethink how they hire

Companies that recognize the value of older workers can thrive. That’s why AARP created an Employer Pledge program to allow companies to affirm their commitment to hiring people of all ages.

More than 3,000 employers have signed the pledge since its inception in 2012. These companies range in size from two employees to more than 300,000. They receive an AARP seal they can use on recruitment materials and access to networking opportunities and resources, including quarterly online meetings where employers can learn about labor market trends or what older workers are looking for in a job, according to AARP research.

“We have employers of all sizes and industries who want to hire older workers because of their work ethic and professionalism,” said Heather Tinsley-Fix, senior adviser, employer engagement, at AARP.

4. Advising job seekers on how to navigate the evolving job market

AARP has a slew of resources to help older adults land a new position, from advice on brushing up on interview skills to reframing beliefs about aging that may hold people back.

To locate the right positions, AARP provides instruction on how to suss out the “hidden” job market, where to find fulfilling remote jobs, ways to ramp up a job search during the fall surge and how to polish a LinkedIn profile to attract employers.

For the application stage, we break down the elements of a noteworthy résumé, including how to integrate keywords and remove details that may date an applicant.

We also have advice on what to do for those who suspect unfair treatment due to age.

Our Skills Builder for Work courses teach the fundamentals of Microsoft Office, the basics of digital marketing and nonprofit management. On-demand webinars provide tips on how to use artificial intelligence to your advantage.

One of our newest resources is a collaboration with Indeed, launched this year, that offers a suite of tools tailored to older workers, including a job board and free tools such as résumé assistance and interview preparation.

5. Guiding older adults through personalized coaching

Anyone 50 and older who is living on a limited income can get a helping hand from AARP Foundation programs as they reenter the workforce.

Back to Work 50+ is a free program available across the country online and in person through select local organizations. Participants start by signing up for a free introductory workshop. They can then apply for a package that includes four weeks of group workshops and peer networking events, one-on-one sessions with a career coach, access to a coach’s office hours and a guidebook that walks them through seven steps to get back to work.

Those who prefer a quick refresher on the fundamentals of job searching can choose the “self-directed” model instead, which has online resources and other perks but does not include group workshops or private career coaching.

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