Authors: Professor Dr Eva-Marie Kessler and Professor Dr Lisa Marie Warner (Medical School Berlin), commissioned by the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency Year of publication: 2022

Brief overview

Images of being and getting old can have an impact on individual life courses, older people’s participation in social life and socio-cultural progress. Under certain conditions, images of ageing can also foster ageist behaviour and they can be used as justification for age-based discrimination. The study aims at creating a solid database on ideas, attitudes and assessments of the population in Germany with regard to older people and the life phase of old age. To this end, 2,000 persons from age 16 were surveyed nationwide by phone. The survey was conducted from 10 to 25 January 2022 by the polling institute Kantar Public.

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Main results

People are considered “old” at an early stage

• Those surveyed were firstly asked from what age on people in our society are considered old. Most frequently (27 per cent of those surveyed) 60 years was mentioned as the age limit from which on people are called old in Germany. Some considered a person old only at 65 or 70, others, however, from as early as at 50. The huge span shows that obviously there is no consensus on from when on people in our society are considered old.
• On average, the societal age limit was at 61 years. Thus, it is rather low in Germany compared to other European countries.

Only little knowledge about older people

• The majority of those interviewed (74 per cent) in part significantly overestimated the share of people older than 70 in the population. Only one fifth of those surveyed (21 per cent) guessed more or less correctly (2021 the share of the over-70-year-olds in Germany was about 18 per cent; accordingly, estimates between 15 and 21 per cent were rated as being correct).
• There is an even more pronounced overestimation (by 81 per cent of those surveyed) concerning the percentage of people over 70 living in nursing homes. The actual figure here is about 6 per cent. Almost 17 per cent of the persons surveyed guessed more or less correctly (values between 3 and 9 per cent).

An ambivalent view of older people and the life phase of old age

• As for personal images of older people there is a mixed picture. On the one hand, a majority of surveyed people (rather) agrees that most old people are severely hampered in everyday life by health issues (69 per cent), are lonely (66 per cent) and are unable to adapt to changes and are thus inferior to younger people.
• On the other hand, the vast majority (94 per cent) is convinced that it is possible to stay mentally and physically fit in old age. A majority (73 per cent) is also of the opinion that old people deal with important questions of life in a calm and prudent way.
• The assumptions about the life phase of old age are in line with those of images of older people: Consequently, one in two persons takes it that it is the hardest phase in life (52 per cent) and that it is marked by less quality of life (48 per cent). At the same time, 73 per cent are of the opinion that the life phase of old age can be shaped and just as many people consider old age as a phase of wisdom and calmness.

Older generation perceived as blocking progress

• The statement “Older people make a decisive contribution to the progress of our society” was rejected by a slight majority of surveyed people (53 per cent), whereas 47 per cent supported this statement. No fewer than 40 per cent agree with the statement that young people have been let down by old people in coping with climate change. Hence, a considerable number of respondents does not consider the older generation as a strong innovative force.
• This goes hand in hand with the perception of older people in Germany having comparatively much power. Consequently, one in two respondents (51 per cent) stated that old people have more political clout than young ones. In contrast, only about one in ten persons (12 per cent) state that young people have more political clout.

Only approximately one third of respondents expects older persons to give up important positions

• The survey not only questioned what older people are like in the opinion of respondents (descriptive stereotypes of old age), but also what older people should be like (prescriptive views of old age). Among the respondents there was a very strong trend towards the prescriptive norm according to which older people should remain physically (agreement: 95 per cent) and in particular mentally active (98 per cent).
• The standard of social withdrawal has particular significance as it is a possible indicator of (self-) discriminatory attitudes towards old age. 41 per cent agreed with the statement that old people should put up with their age and not try to look young. And no less than one third of respondents (32 per cent) agreed with the statement that old people should normally make room for the younger generation by giving up important professional and social roles.

Images of old age strongly differ depending on respondents’ age

Young respondents (16 to approximately 30 years):

• have a slightly less differentiated view on old people and old age,
• recognise potential less frequently (personal maturity), but also less frequently see problems in old age,
• are less aware of the problem of age discrimination (ageism),
• by a majority are of the opinion that old people contribute less to society’s progress or even hamper progress,
• and that they carry much political clout at the same time.

Old and very old respondents (from 65 years of age):

• perceive the societal age limit as a lot higher,
• have a more complex and also a more ambivalent image of old people and ageing,
• More often feel that there are negative aspects to old age / ageing (in particular if they are over 85),
• consider old people less frequently as obstructionists of societal progress and less frequently as an economic burden,
• Have high expectations of their own age group to be unassuming and not be a burden.

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Options for action

The authors derive recommendations from the results, i.e. that public, civil society and private sector institutions are to make offers promoting more differentiated and complex images of ageing. That includes:

• Promoting, as much as possible, an unambiguous and, as little as possible, connotative use of language in connection with old age (e.g. according to the thematic field age information as concrete as possible instead of speaking of “old people” or “older people”)
• Promoting educational services in the field of individual and societal ageing regarding topics such as disease prevention in old age, a self-determined life when suffering from a disease and when needing (long-term) care or in connection with demographic change
• Conducting campaigns to raise awareness of one’s own ageist behavioural tendencies on the one hand, and to raise awareness of ageism on the other hand
• Creating dialogic experience spaces in which people in the second half of their lives can reflect upon and plan the way they experience their (old) age (e.g. plans for one’s life and future in the fields of housing, health, civic engagement and bequest)
• Creating spaces for exchange to deal with perceived inequalities between age groups and/or generations at political and societal level

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