In all instances, no definition is provided in the legislation in relation to age. The preparatory for the Swedish legislation, however, do state that age refers to a person’s age at a given moment, being equal to the life length of the individual concerned as counted from his or her birth. Younger as well as older people are thereby encompassed without any upper or lower limit. The law also protects against discrimination with regard to perceived age that is when an individual is being discriminated against owing to the discriminator perceiving the former’s age as being higher or lower than his or her actual age. 5.2 ON YOUNG PEOPLE While equality bodies emphasise that there is no prioritisation in their work across different cases of discrimination, many reported that issues of discrimination against and inequality for young people tended to have a medium to low focus in their work. A low focus can result from limitations in the mandate of the equality body, in particular where this is limited to employment as in Austria, or where education is not part of the mandate as in Germany. Under-reporting of age discrimination, the lack of complaints of discrimination from young people on the age ground, and the subsequent lack of casework in this area are further reasons for a low level of focus on young people by equality bodies. The presence and work of a Children’s Ombudsman in the jurisdiction can also mean that an equality body might choose to limit its focus on the age group addressed by the Children’s Ombudsman. A greater focus on young people by equality bodies can be stimulated by the availability of data and statistics that reflect the disadvantaged or less equal outcomes in key policy areas for young people. This is emphasised by some equality bodies in relation to both employment and education. The issue of intersectionality, where age and another ground are at play or where age and particular social roles such as parenting are at play, can also drive a greater
In all instances, no definition is provided in the legislation in relation to age. The preparatory for the Swedish legislation, however, do state that age refers to a person’s age at a given moment, being equal to the life length of the individual concerned as counted from his or her birth. Younger as well as older people are thereby encompassed without any upper or lower limit. The law also protects against discrimination with regard to perceived age that is when an individual is being discriminated against owing to the discriminator perceiving the former’s age as being higher or lower than his or her actual age. 5.2 ON YOUNG PEOPLE While equality bodies emphasise that there is no prioritisation in their work across different cases of discrimination, many reported that issues of discrimination against and inequality for young people tended to have a medium to low focus in their work. A low focus can result from limitations in the mandate of the equality body, in particular where this is limited to employment as in Austria, or where education is not part of the mandate as in Germany. Under-reporting of age discrimination, the lack of complaints of discrimination from young people on the age ground, and the subsequent lack of casework in this area are further reasons for a low level of focus on young people by equality bodies. The presence and work of a Children’s Ombudsman in the jurisdiction can also mean that an equality body might choose to limit its focus on the age group addressed by the Children’s Ombudsman. A greater focus on young people by equality bodies can be stimulated by the availability of data and statistics that reflect the disadvantaged or less equal outcomes in key policy areas for young people. This is emphasised by some equality bodies in relation to both employment and education. The issue of intersectionality, where age and another ground are at play or where age and particular social roles such as parenting are at play, can also drive a greater
young_people_perspective_designed-2.docx