burdensome, time consuming, and a disincentive to work. On the other hand, you can't pay the older person the maximum allowable income under Social Security without being charged with paying a person a lower rate of pay for the same job that others in the agency are doing. Insurance, health plans, pension plans, are considerably more in cost when you have more old people on staff. two rates For example, we have just completed a study for new Life, DA, Health Insurance and Pension Plan. We asked for one for full-time staff, which has three older people over 55, and another rate for part-timers who are site managers, mostly 55 and over. The difference in cost was significant to the point we could not provide the full health benefit plan to the part-timers because of the increased risk established by the insurance companies. T-XX Contracts: Many service providers will hire older people and pay the minimum rate of pay with no benefits. They create a pool of workers who are utilized within maximum Social Security benefits but receive no standard benefits or job security. Property Tax: Abatements are established at the age of 70, a move which creates an inconsistency with benefits under the Social Security Act at the age of 62 or 65. It is the feeling of older people that the abatements should be started at 62 or at retirement, at which time the fixed income is in place. - Property Value: At present with the increased appreciation on homes that many older people have owned for many years, the increased value is significant and older people find themselves with little or no abatement. Example: Appreciation doubled in the last five years, but abatement has stayed the same, thereby an actual reduction because of inflation. Social Security Benefits: Women who have worked most of their lives and whose husband passed away early, are not able to receive benefits from their husband's contributions to Social Security. Also, an increase in Social Security benefits denotes a decrease in Veterans benefits for older people. Income limitations created for T-IX program is a subtle form of discrimination. Hiring policies and practices are subtle in their means of age discrimination. Many of these problems can't be documented, but a person 55 and over who applies for a position knows by the attitude of the interviewer and the regret letter. Also, the turnover of staff at various age levels is a point of confirming such subtleties if you are allowed to analyze personnel files of older workers. These are areas of age discrimination that we encountered through our operation and by our extension interviews with older people. September 27, 1977 National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, Inc. 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 505 Washington, D.C. 20036 MIDIA ignorant. The media portrays older people as frail, inferior, senile and This public judgement is a blatant form of age discrimination it creates, in the eyes of the public, an image of older people which is a great disservice to the 23 million older persons in this country. MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES Mental health services are very limited for older people, even though the need is great. This is due to loneliness, depression, loss of friends, and spouse. Also, there is a decidedly less than enthusiastic attitude of the medical community to consider therapy for rehabilitative purposes. This attitude is one of disregard for the value that an older pension can contribute to our society. WELFARE PROPOSAL At present one of the positions displayed in the Administration's welfare proposal is that older people don't want to work or are unable to work. This assumption is inherently discriminatory. By establishing the income guidelines proposal, the Administration is discriminating against the older person's choice to work. One characteristic in this manner can make a public policy that affects all older people. COMPREHENSIVE EMPLOYMENT TRAINING ACT The guidelines created for the CETA program are discriminatory for older people. The large amount of federal dollars available and the miniscule effort made to employee older people is tragic. Again, it is an attitude. No consideration for retraining of older people for the job market, or utilizing older people's skills in retraining program activities. Present guidelines do not sufficiently take into consideration the desire or need for older people to participate in the work force. Exhibit No. 30 BACKGROUND AND PERSPECTIVE THE INDIAN WORLD TODAY 760,572 There are approximately one million Indians and Native Americans in the U.S. of which 450,000 live on reservations and in Alaskan Native Villages. 266 Federally recognized tribes, bands, and groups exist within the continental United States, along with 200 recognized Native Villages in Alaska. Although exact figures are hard to obtain, the situation of the offreservation Indians is still roughly comparable to their reservation counterparts. The average unemployment on reservation is over 40%. In nonreservation areas, it is 20%. Source of Information: Bureau of Indian Affairs |