| Abstract: |
Carefully-matched pairs of written job applications were made to test for age
discrimination in hiring. A twenty-one year-old and a thirty-nine year-old
woman applied for jobs where a "new graduate" was sought; men aged
twenty-seven and forty-seven, inquired about employment as waiters; women aged
twenty-seven and forty-seven, inquired about employment in retail sales. The
rate of net discrimination against the older graduate, and against the older
waiters in their London inquiries, correspond to the highest rates ever
recorded anywhere, by written tests, for racial discrimination. There was a
statistically significant preference for the older applicant in retail sales. |