Age
When and how to mention age
Background:
Aging, including physical, mental, and social changes, is a normal process and not equivalent with disease or ill health. Age bias can create misleading and negative perceptions of people at any age. Discrimination or prejudice based on age is called ageism, and ageism can appear in language.
Terms like “seniors” and “senior citizens” carry a stigma, are ambiguous, and can be confused with other meanings, such as the level in school. They can also be inaccurate—for example, if the people discussed are not citizens. Beginning with the comparative “older,” such as “older people,” is more neutral.
Recommendation:
Refer to age only when relevant. If mentioning age is necessary, use specific numbers instead of vague terms or terms that isolate a group as “other.” Whenever possible, ask the people you’re talking about for their preferred terminology for their age group, if a broad label is needed. If preference is not known and you need to refer to older people in general, use “older” as an adjective, as in “older adults,” instead of using “senior citizens,” “seniors,” or “the elderly.” See also “Recognize overlapping identities.”
Examples:
Use:
adults aged 55 to 60 years
Avoid:
the middle-aged
Use:
octogenarians, centenarians
Avoid:
the elderly, aging dependents
Use:
Senior Chemists Committee (formal name)
Ageist language and stereotypes
Background:
Both older and younger people share a wide range of interests that involve activity, independence, socializing, and education. Language can perpetuate stereotypes about age by associating “old” and related words with negative things, and “young” and related words with positive attributes. Even seemingly positive phrases or metaphors that use age-related terminology can carry the same negative or fatalistic attitudes toward aging. Google’s All In toolkit explains, “Phrases such as ‘70 is the new 50’ suggest that the preferred way of being old is not to be old at all but to maintain the appearance of middle-age functionality.”
Recommendation:
Avoid associating certain behaviors or attitudes with age, and choose language that will reflect the diverse identities, experiences, and interests that exist at all ages. When referring to different age groups, avoid informal, vague, disparaging, or infantilizing terms, including language that portrays all younger people as naive, entitled, or irresponsible or implies that all older adults are experiencing perceptual or cognitive decline. Avoid seemingly positive phrases that are still ageist (e.g., “young at heart”).
Examples:
Use:
Dr. Gupta, age 50
Avoid:
50 years young
Use:
She forgot what she was going to say.
Avoid:
had a senior moment
Generational terms
Background:
Informal generational terms like “baby boomers” and “millennials” can have negative connotations and stereotypes, and people do not always agree on their meaning. They also lump many diverse people under one label, which can obscure differences within the group. Some research has found that meaningful differences between generations do not exist for many variables studied. For example, categorizing workers by generation is not necessarily useful as a workforce management tool because age is just one factor affecting workers’ needs and because intragenerational differences can be large, according to a 2020 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report.
Recommendation:
Avoid informal generational terms unless referring to specific research related to the topic of generations. Instead, use decade-specific terms that describe the age group, and provide context to make the meaning clear. If someone wants to be described by a generational term, use that (see “Ask people how they want to be described, and respect that language”).
Examples:
Use:
people born between 1946 and 1964
Avoid:
baby boomers
Use:
teenagers
Avoid:
Gen Z
Dementia
Background:
The term “senile” is an outdated, imprecise, and often inaccurate term, and it relates to age rather than disease.
Recommendation:
Instead of “senile,” use “person with dementia” or “people who have dementia,” if that is accurate, and specify the type of dementia when known.
Example:
Use:
a person with dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease
Avoid:
senile
Benefits associated with age
Background:
In the US, Social Security and Medicare benefits can begin at different ages. Although being age 65 or older is one criterion for Medicare eligibility, people can also qualify for coverage if they have certain disabilities or medical conditions. Social Security is an umbrella term for several federal benefits programs and may refer to people across a wide range of ages.
Recommendation:
Do not use “Social Security recipients” or “Medicare recipients” as a catch-all for older people in the US, especially when intending to refer to only older people receiving the benefit.
Examples:
Use:
people who are receiving Social Security and are over the age of 62
Avoid:
Social Security recipients
Use:
people who are receiving Medicare benefits because of a disability
Avoid:
Medicare recipients
Resources on inclusive language for age
- Age Scotland. Making Ageism Old News: Reporting on Older People Guide. Edinburgh: Age Scotland, 2020.
- American Psychological Association. “Age.” APA Style. Last modified July 2021.
- Centre for Ageing Better. Challenging Ageism: A Guide to Talking about Ageing and Older Age. Centre for Ageing Better, 2021.
- Changing the Narrative. Guidelines for Age-Inclusive Communication. 2022.
- Dahmen, Nicole S., and Raluca Cozma, eds. Media Takes: On Aging. New York: International Longevity Center–USA and Aging Services of California, 2009.
- Gendron, Tracey L., E. Ayn Welleford, Jennifer Inker, and John T. White. “The Language of Ageism: Why We Need to Use Words Carefully.” Gerontologist 56, no. 6 (Dec. 2016): 997–1006. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnv066.
- Lindland, Eric, Marissa Fond, Abigail Haydon, and Nathaniel Kendall-Taylor. Gauging Aging: Mapping the Gaps between Expert and Public Understandings of Aging in America. Washington, DC: FrameWorks Institute, 2015.
- Lundebjerg, Nancy E., Daniel E. Trucil, Emily C. Hammond, and William B. Applegate. “When It Comes to Older Adults, Language Matters: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Adopts Modified American Medical Association Style.” J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 65, no. 7 (July 2017): 1386–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.14941.
- Pinsker, Joe. “When Does Someone Become ‘Old’?” Atlantic, Jan. 27, 2020.
- Reframing Aging Initiative. Communication Best Practices: Reframing Aging Initiative Guide to Telling a More Complete Story of Aging. 2022.
- Senz, Kristen. “6 Tips for Improving News Coverage of Older People.” The Journalist’s Resource, Nov. 15, 2022.
- Sweetland, Julie, Andrew Volmert, and Moira O’Neil. Finding the Frame: An Empirical Approach to Reframing Aging and Ageism. Washington, DC: FrameWorks Institute, 2017.