News

28.2.08 - Nineteen Year Old Wins ‘Too Young’ Age Claim

A 19-year-old administrative assistant sacked for being "too young" won an age discrimination case last week. The employment tribunal ruled in her favour, finding that evidence relied on by her Newcastle employers did not show Wilkinson lacked in performance, and judged she had been discriminated against on the grounds of age. The tribunal said the company had relied on a "stereotypical assumption that capability equals experience and experience equals older age... age was the predominant reason for the decision to dismiss". Wilkinson was awarded £16,081.12 (£5,000 of which is injury to feelings).

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28.2.08 - Pregnancy rate among women over 40 reaches record high

The number of women getting pregnant after the age of 40 has reached a record high after doubling over the past 15 years, official figures revealed yesterday. The Office for National Statistics said conceptions in England and Wales rose by 3% in 2006, and the fertility rate increased among women in all age groups over 20. But the biggest leap was among women over 40. About 25,400 of them became pregnant in 2006 - 6.4% more than in 2005 and 109% more than in 1991. London was the pregnancy hotspot for the over-40s, at a rate of 22 women a 1,000, compared with 7.3 a thousand in the north-east. Conceptions among women aged between 35 and 39 also increased sharply, from 110,000 in 2005 to 115,000 in 2006. In 1991 the total was 86,000

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28.2.08 - Quarter of Academics Want to Go On

More than a quarter of university staff want to work beyond age 65, according to the preliminary results of a large-scale survey of higher education institutions. The survey, involving 5,023 staff across eight universities, found that 26 per cent of respondents said that they were likely or very likely to ask to stay on past the normal retirement age of 65. The true figure could be higher, as the survey also found that staff have poor knowledge of their rights under age discrimination laws.

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- 45+ Valuing age in business Conference

The Northampton Suite City University, London 4th April free conference. Organised by EurExcel, in cooperation with the FAST (Focusing Age Strategies in Policy Making) project consortium. The conference will be host to a number of experienced and influential personnel in the employment sector, and will cover topics relevant to any size of business in any area of work. Among the confirmed speakers are 'The Age and Employment Network' (http://www.taen.org.uk ) and 'Initiatives in Business Development Group Ltd' (http://www.ibd-uk.co.uk ). They, together with Professor Harry Gray and a representative from the European Commission will be offering valuable insight into the different aspects of 'Valuing age in business'.

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