Age is one of the clearest examples of how inequality changes across the life course. Unlike social class, ethnicity or gender, age is a social category that everyone moves through. A person can experience age-based assumptions as a child, as a teenager, as a young worker, as a parent, as an older employee and as an older person using health or social care services.

For Cambridge OCR A Level Sociology, students need to understand age not just as a biological fact, but as a dimension of social inequality. This means looking at how society attaches meanings, expectations and stereotypes to different age groups.

Age inequality can affect both young people and older people, but often in different ways. Young people may be seen as irresponsible, risky or inexperienced. Older people may be seen as dependent, slow, out of touch or a burden. In both cases, age becomes a way of judging people before looking at their actual abilities, circumstances or needs.

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What is ageism?

Ageism refers to prejudice, stereotyping or discrimination based on age. It can affect people at any stage of the life course, although it is often discussed in relation to older people.

Ageism can be:

Individual: for example, assuming an older worker cannot use technology.

Cultural: for example, media images that present older people mainly as dependent or young people mainly as anti-social.

Institutional: for example, workplaces that invest less in training older staff or treat younger workers as less deserving of secure employment.

The OCR suggested studies guide identifies ageism as an important area within social inequalities, including work by Hockey and James on the infantilisation of the elderly, Ray, Sharp and Adams on ageism in the UK, and Bytheway et al. on older people inside and outside the labour market.

Age as a dimension of social inequality

Age inequality matters because different age groups are given different levels of power, independence and respect. This can shape their life chances, including their access to education, work, income, health care, housing and political voice.

A child may be dependent on adults and have limited power over decisions. A teenager may face suspicion in public spaces. A young adult may struggle to access housing or secure work. A middle-aged worker may face pressure to remain productive while caring for children or elderly relatives. An older person may face assumptions that they are frail, dependent or economically inactive.

This is why sociologists often use the idea of the life course. Rather than seeing age as a simple number, the life course approach looks at the socially expected stages people move through, such as childhood, youth, adulthood, work, retirement and old age.

Hockey and James: ageing, dependency and infantilisation

Hockey and James are useful for understanding how dependency is socially constructed. Their work on Growing Up and Growing Old argues that Western societies often organise life into stages, with childhood and old age both associated with dependency. The book is described as analysing metaphors of dependency across the body, family, work and leisure.

This is important because older people can be treated as if they are childlike. This is sometimes called the infantilisation of the elderly. For example, older people may be spoken to in a patronising way, excluded from decision-making or assumed to need help without being asked.

For students, the key point is that dependency is not just a natural result of age. It is also shaped by social arrangements. If workplaces, transport systems, digital services and care systems are designed around the needs of younger adults, then older people may be made to appear more dependent than they actually are.

This links well to AO3 evaluation. Not all older people are dependent, and not all young people are powerless. Wealth, health, family support, gender, disability and class all affect how age is experienced.

Milne: ageing, consumption and “grey power”

Milne is useful for challenging the idea that all older people are poor, passive or dependent. OCR materials commonly link Milne with the idea of “grey power”, referring to the growing social and economic influence of older people as consumers and voters.

This matters because it complicates the picture of age inequality. Some older people may experience poverty, loneliness, ageism and exclusion from work. Others may have pensions, housing wealth and political influence. This means students should avoid treating “old age” as one single experience.

A useful evaluation point is that age inequality is closely linked to class inequality. A wealthy retired homeowner and an older person renting privately on a low income may both be “old”, but their life chances are very different.

Ray, Sharp and Adams: ageism in the UK

Ray, Sharp and Adams are especially useful for this topic because they focus on ageism and age discrimination in the UK. Their work on age discrimination in social care defines age discrimination as unequal treatment on the grounds of age, either directly or indirectly.

This helps students separate different types of age inequality. A person may experience direct discrimination, such as being refused a job because they are considered too old. They may experience indirect discrimination, such as services moving online in a way that disadvantages some older people. They may also experience stereotyping, such as being assumed to be confused, frail or resistant to change.

Ray, Sharp and Adams are useful because they show that ageism is not only about personal attitudes. It can be built into services, organisations and policies.

Age inequality affecting young people

Age inequality does not only affect older people. Young people can face powerful forms of ageism too.

Young people may be stereotyped as irresponsible, anti-social or politically apathetic. They may be controlled more heavily in schools, shopping centres and public spaces. They may be treated as lacking knowledge or maturity, even when decisions directly affect them.

In employment, young people can face insecurity, low pay and difficulty gaining experience. The ONS reported that in January to March 2026, 13.5% of people aged 16 to 24 in the UK were not in education, employment or training. This shows that youth transitions into work remain a major issue.

This is a good example of how age affects life chances. If young people struggle to access work, training or stable income, this can delay independence, housing, family formation and social mobility.

Age inequality affecting older people

Older people can face different forms of inequality. These may include exclusion from work, pressure to retire, poorer treatment in health and social care, digital exclusion and media stereotypes about being a “burden”.

The Centre for Policy on Ageing report by Ray, Sharp and Abrams argues that age discrimination can involve older people being treated unequally because of age. This is especially important in areas such as social care, where assumptions about old age can affect the quality of support people receive.

Students should be careful here. Older people are not all disadvantaged in the same way. Some have secure pensions and housing wealth, while others experience poverty, poor health or isolation. Age inequality is therefore shaped by class, gender, ethnicity, disability and family situation.

Age and work: why employment matters

Work is one of the most important areas where age inequality can be seen. Employment affects income, identity, status, social networks and future security. Age can shape whether someone gets a job, what kind of job they get, whether they receive training, and how they are treated at work.

Age inequality in employment can affect both younger and older workers. Young workers may be seen as inexperienced or less committed. Older workers may be seen as less adaptable, more expensive or closer to retirement.

ONS labour market statistics show that employment, unemployment and economic inactivity are measured by age group, which allows sociologists to examine how labour market chances vary across the life course. The ONS age dataset provides employment, unemployment and economic inactivity rates for different age groups in the UK.

Youth unemployment and insecurity

Youth unemployment is a key example of age-based inequality because young people often enter the labour market with fewer qualifications, less experience and weaker networks. They may be competing for entry-level work, apprenticeships, training schemes or insecure jobs.

The ONS estimated that 13.5% of 16–24-year-olds were NEET in January to March 2026. It also estimated that 613,000 economically inactive young people aged 16 to 24 were NEET, an increase compared with both the previous year and the previous quarter.

This matters sociologically because unemployment at a young age can have long-term effects. It may reduce confidence, delay skill development and make it harder to build a stable work history. This links directly to life chances.

However, students should evaluate this carefully. Not all young people face the same risks. Class background, education, region, ethnicity, disability and gender all shape whether a young person can access secure employment.

Older workers and workplace ageism

Older workers may face age discrimination in recruitment, promotion, training and redundancy. Employers may assume that older workers are less flexible, less willing to learn or less able to use new technology. These are stereotypes rather than reliable assessments of ability.

Bytheway et al. are useful here because OCR identifies their work in relation to older people inside and outside the labour market. The Equality and Human Rights Commission review notes that ageism has historically had a lower profile than other forms of discrimination, and that Ray et al. found evidence of ageist attitudes towards older people in Britain.

This is a useful OCR point because it shows that ageism may be less visible than racism or sexism, even though it can have serious consequences. Older workers may be pushed towards retirement, excluded from training or treated as less valuable despite their experience.

Training and promotion

Training is an important example of indirect age discrimination. An employer may not openly say that older workers are excluded because of age. Instead, managers may assume it is not worth investing in someone who is “close to retirement”. This can reduce older workers’ chances of promotion and make them more vulnerable to redundancy.

At the same time, younger workers may also struggle to access meaningful training if employers rely on temporary contracts, zero-hours work or unpaid experience. This shows that age inequality is not one-directional. Both younger and older workers can be disadvantaged, but through different mechanisms.

A good exam answer might say:

Age affects employment chances because employers attach stereotypes to different stages of the life course. Young workers may be seen as inexperienced, while older workers may be seen as less adaptable. This can affect recruitment, training and promotion, producing age-based inequalities in income and security.

Retirement and dependency

Retirement is another important part of age inequality. Retirement can be positive if it brings freedom, leisure and financial security. However, it can also create lower income, loss of status and social isolation.

Hockey and James help here because they show how old age is often linked to dependency. If retirement is seen as a move from productive adulthood into dependency, older people may be treated as less socially valuable. This connects to the idea that capitalist societies often value people according to their paid work.

However, Milne’s idea of grey power complicates this. Some retired people have significant consumer power, housing wealth and political influence. This means retirement does not produce the same life chances for everyone.

Intergenerational inequality

Intergenerational inequality refers to unequal opportunities or resources between age groups. This can include debates about housing, pensions, student debt, job security, tax, care responsibilities and public spending.

Younger people may argue that older generations benefited from cheaper housing, more secure employment and stronger pension systems. Older people may argue that they face poor health, caring needs, loneliness or exclusion from work.

The sociological point is not to blame one generation. Instead, students should ask how social policies, labour markets and housing markets distribute resources between age groups.

Linking age inequality to other inequalities

The best OCR answers will not treat age in isolation. Age interacts with other forms of inequality.

A young middle-class graduate may have family support during unemployment, while a working-class young person may need immediate paid work. An older homeowner may be more secure than an older renter. Older women may have lower pensions if they spent time out of paid work due to caring responsibilities. Disabled older people may face more barriers in work, transport and health care.

This is where the concept of intersectionality is useful. Age inequality is real, but it is experienced differently depending on someone’s wider social position.

How to use the studies in an OCR answer

Students can use the studies in the following ways:

Hockey and James can be used to explain how childhood and old age are both socially constructed as dependent stages of life.

Milne can be used to challenge simple negative stereotypes of older people by showing the importance of grey power and the diversity of later life.

Ray, Sharp and Adams can be used to define and explain ageism, especially in services and workplace treatment.

Bytheway et al. can be used to discuss older people inside and outside the labour market and the lower visibility of ageism compared with some other forms of discrimination.

ONS labour market by age can be used as contemporary evidence showing that employment, unemployment and inactivity vary by age group.

Example OCR paragraph

Age is a dimension of social inequality because society attaches different stereotypes and expectations to different stages of the life course. For example, young people may be seen as irresponsible or inexperienced, while older people may be seen as dependent or resistant to change. Hockey and James argue that both childhood and old age are often associated with dependency, which can lead to older people being infantilised. This affects life chances because people may be excluded from decision-making, work or training based on assumptions about age rather than ability. However, this does not affect all older people equally. Milne’s idea of grey power suggests that some older people have significant consumer and political influence, showing that class and income shape how age inequality is experienced.

Final judgement

Age inequality is important because it shows how social power changes across the life course. Young people may face suspicion, low pay, unemployment and limited political influence. Older people may face ageism in work, training, retirement, health care and social care. The strongest sociological explanation is that age is not just biological. It is socially constructed through stereotypes, institutions and policies.

For Cambridge OCR A Level Sociology, the most effective answers will avoid simply saying that “old people are disadvantaged” or “young people are disadvantaged”. Instead, they will explain how age affects life chances in different ways at different stages of the life course, using studies such as Hockey and James, Milne, Ray, Sharp and Adams, and Bytheway et al., alongside current evidence from the ONS.