Age Bias in Hiring2020
20-35% callback penalty for 50+ workers across 20+ audit studies (NBER WP 28379)
A review of 20+ audit studies on age discrimination finds callback penalties for older workers (50+) range from 20-35%; the penalty is larger for women than men, larger in higher-skill occupations, and consistently starts between ages 50 and 54.
Primary source
Neumark, NBER WP 28379
https://www.nber.org/papers/w28379Published 2020 — compiled by JobCannon Research.
Why this stat matters
This figure belongs to the age bias in hiringvertical of JobCannon's ongoing review of hiring, AI, and career-outcome research. We track it because it is one of the few primary-source estimates with a published sample, methodology, or legal record. Cite the original source first; this page exists to make the figure easy to find and link to.
Related stats
- 34% of workers 50+ fear AI threatens their job (n=3,580)AARP Research, Jan 2025 — 2025
- 16,223 EEOC age-discrimination charges in FY2024 (+9.2% YoY)EEOC enforcement & litigation statistics — 2024
- Age 64-66: 35% fewer callbacks vs 29-31 year olds (n=40K+ applications, JOLE 2019)Neumark, Burn & Button, Journal of Labor Economics 37(S1) — 2019
- iTutorGroup auto-rejected 200+ over-55s; $365K EEOC settlementEEOC press release, Aug 2023 — 2023
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