Youth
Driving age is the age at which a person can apply for a driver's license. Countries with the lowest driving ages (below 17) are Australia, Canada, El Salvador, Iceland, Israel, Estonia, Macedonia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Kingdom (Mainland) and United States. The Canadian province of Alberta and several U.S. states permit youth driving as low as 14. Niger has the highest minimum driving age in the world at 23. In India, driving is legal after getting a license at the age of 18.
Ageism
On a personal level, an older person may be told that he or she is too old to engage in certain physical activities, like an informal game of basketball between friends and family. A younger person may be told they are too young to get a job or help move the dining room table. On an institutional level, there are policies and regulations in place that limit opportunities to people of certain ages and deny them to all others. The law, for instance, requires that all people must be at least 16 years old in order to obtain a driver's license in the United States. There are also government regulations that determine when a worker may retire. Currently, in the US, a worker must be between 65 and 67 years old (depending upon his or her birth year) before becoming eligible for full Social Security retirement benefits (age 62 for 70% benefits) but some company pension plans begin benefits at earlier ages.