From "Coffin Dodger" to "Boomer Remover": Outbreaks of Ageism in Three Countries With Divergent Approaches to Coronavirus Control

Abstract

Objectives: This article compares responses to coronavirus control in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, 3 countries in which public ageism erupted over the social and economic costs of protecting older adults from Covid-19.

Methods: Thirty-five (35) newspapers, media websites, and current affairs magazines were sourced for the study: 8 for Australia, 12 for the United Kingdom, and 15 for the United States. Searches were conducted daily from April to June 2020, using key words to identify age-related themes on pandemic control.

Results: Despite divergent policies in the 3 countries, ageism took similar forms. Public responses to lockdowns and other measures cast older adults as a problem to be ignored or solved through segregation. Name-calling, blame, and "so-be-it" reactions toward age vulnerability were commonplace. Policies banning visits to aged care homes angered many relatives and older adults. Indefinite isolation for older adults was widely accepted, especially as a vehicle to end public lockdowns and economic crises.

Discussion: Older adults have and will continue to bear the brunt of Covid-19 in terms of social burdens and body counts as the pandemic continues to affect people around the globe. The rhetoric of disposability underscores age discrimination on a broader scale, with blame toward an age cohort considered to have lived past its usefulness for society and to have enriched itself at the expense of future generations.

Keywords: Age segregation; Aged care policies; Covid-19; Herd immunity; Stereotyping.