The Washington Post, May 2021, For Black workers, age discrimination strikes twice
Age discrimination sounds simple: The oldest workers face the strongest biases. But new research suggests that rule applies primarily to White workers. For Black workers, age discrimination is highest for the youngest, falls in middle age, and rises once more as workers near retirement.
A new experiment at Texas A&M University helps illustrate the surprising pattern, which has not been widely studied but tends to line up with Labor Department data reviewed by The Washington Post: Black workers are typically less likely to be hired than White workers with the same experience, but the gap closes in middle age.