OLDER VOTERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE NATIONWIDE
The percentage of U.S. voters age 65+ who voted in the 2021 midterm elections shows a high overall percentage— one candidates should pay attention to in choosing policy and platforms.
33% or less (10 states) 63.1%-64.9% (11 states)
65%-67% (10 states and District of Columbia) 67.1%-73.4% (10 states) Up to 73.5% (11 states)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Voting and Registration Supplement
development policy include discussions of how we can ensure that people have access to training and upskilling across their life spans.” In addition, Vanderburg believes ageism
is reflected in the fact that Medicare does not cover vision, dental and hearing (though she notes hearing’s prospects are improv- ing), and “attempts to get those covered in recent proposed federal legislation have for the most part been dismissed.” Also, she says, “across the country, and in
most places, workplace age discrimination is treated less seriously in the legal system than other forms of discrimination.” Vanderburg says ageism arrives in policy
discussions in a variety of forms. For in- stance, Vanderburg says a colleague shared with her that a policymaker had expressed a reluctance to support legislation that would increase home sharing among older and younger adults because older people “might be taken advantage of.”
“Just like the rest of us, policymakers
aren’t immune from having stereotypes that can inadvertently affect their decisions,” Vanderburg says.
No sound bite issues Part of the challenge with confronting age- ism in public policy discussions, Kaskie says, is that it often is difficult to pinpoint how much of an impact ageism has on those de- bates, just as it can be complicated to prove someone is the victim of an individual case of age discrimination. In general, Kaskie says the policy issues
specific to aging adults are not polarizing enough to draw the spotlight, and that can keep them from being more of a priority for either party. “Our issues aren't made for TV,” says
Kaskie, who has served as a congressional fellow working with the Senate Committee on Aging. “When you think of the two tails of both parties, the most vocal persons who
get on TV the most spend more time talk- ing about issues that are fairly divisive—is- sues that really separate the two political parties. You don't hear about how these two very distinct parties are finding com- mon ground and working to solve problems that would benefit a lot of older persons because they don't rise to the level of being featured on MSNBC or Fox. So then it just doesn't rise to the top of the agenda. And so that's keeping us from moving forward.” D’Antonio says one place where ageism
can be most apparent in the spotlight of public policy debates is in the ways that older policymakers themselves become the target of hostile age-related remarks. “There are people who simply think
that they can talk about older people in a certain way, and we hear that when people talk about policymakers sometimes,” D’Antonio says. “It’s a very distressing part of the discourse. Calling that out is really important.”
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