How These Myths Fuel Ageism

 Ageism doesn’t usually begin with cruelty. It begins with assumptions.

When younger people believe that seniors are unhappy, wealthy, confused, resistant, or irrelevant, those beliefs quietly shape decisions, about hiring, health care, housing, transportation, technology, and community design. Language changes. Patience shortens. Voices are dismissed.

These myths create an environment where ageism can flourish without being named.

They show up when older workers are passed over “just in case.”
When services are moved online without support.
When policy decisions are justified by stereotypes instead of evidence.
When older adults are spoken about, but not spoken with.

Perhaps the most damaging myth is the idea that ageing itself is the problem.

Ageing is not the problem. Ageism is.

Ageism limits opportunity, isolates people, and weakens communities. It also harms younger people by teaching them to fear their own future. When we challenge myths about ageing, we’re not just defending seniors, we’re reshaping what it means to grow older in this province.

As the Seniors Advocate rightly urges, this work begins with reflection. It continues with language, curiosity, and conversation. And it becomes real when policies and practices recognize older adults not as stereotypes, but as people.

Because the truth is simple:
We are all ageing, just at different speeds.

The top ten myths about seniors in BC (2)

The Top 10 Myths About Seniors in B.C. (Myths 6–10)

Less obvious myths that quietly reinforce ageism

Myth 6: Seniors are a burden on the health care system
Fact: Seniors are also major contributors to care, prevention, and community support.

Older adults provide unpaid caregiving, volunteer in hospitals and communities, and actively manage chronic conditions to stay independent. Framing seniors as “a burden” ignores their contributions and oversimplifies complex system-wide health care challenges.

Myth 7: Seniors don’t want to learn new things
Fact: Lifelong learning is common among older adults.

Seniors take courses, learn new skills, adapt to new systems, and pursue creative and intellectual interests well into later life. What often limits participation is access, cost, transportation, or assumptions that learning opportunities are “not for them.”

Myth 8: Most seniors are socially isolated by choice
Fact: Isolation is usually caused by barriers, not preference.

Transportation gaps, inaccessible housing, digital barriers, and the loss of peers can shrink social networks. Most seniors want connection, purpose, and belonging, but need inclusive environments to make that possible.

Myth 9: Seniors are resistant to change
Fact: Older adults have lived through, and adapted to, enormous change.

Economic shifts, technological revolutions, social movements, and global crises are part of many seniors’ lived experiences. Adaptability doesn’t disappear with age; it’s often refined by experience.

Myth 10: Seniors are all the same
Fact: Older adults are the most diverse age group.

Seniors differ by culture, income, education, health, gender identity, ability, geography, and life experience. Treating them as a single group erases individuality and leads to one-size-fits-all policies.

The top ten myths about seniors in BC

The Senior Advocate for the province of BC recently released the top 5 myths that his office found many younger people believe about seniors in BC I did some research and came up with a few more myths. In the next three posts, I will discuss the myths.

Post One: The Top 10 Myths About Seniors in B.C. (Myths 1–5)

The most common myths that influence how younger people perceive ageing

Myth 1: Most older people are grumpy and unhappy
Fact: Research consistently shows that happiness increases later in life.

The well-known “U-curve of happiness” shows satisfaction is high in youth, dips in midlife, and rises again after age 55. Statistics Canada data from 2025 shows that 60.5% of Canadians aged 65+ rated their life satisfaction between 8 and 10 out of 10, compared to 46% of people aged 15–24. Many older adults report greater emotional regulation, perspective, and contentment than earlier in life.

Myth 2: Most older people are wealthy
Fact: Most B.C. seniors live on low to moderate incomes.

In B.C., about 25% of seniors live on annual incomes below $23,800, and half live on under $37,000 a year. Community organizations report record numbers of seniors using food banks and meal programs, and seniors are one of the fastest-growing groups experiencing homelessness. The image of the “well-off retiree” hides real financial vulnerability.

Myth 3: Most older people can’t use or adapt to technology
Fact: Seniors are more tech-savvy than ever.

In 2022, 83% of Canadians aged 65+ used the internet, with B.C. leading the country. During the pandemic, the vast majority of seniors went online daily for banking, health care, communication, and learning. The real barriers are cost, design complexity, and lack of support—not age.

Myth 4: Older workers are not as effective as younger workers
Fact: Job performance is not determined by age.

Research shows that intellectual capacity and the ability to perform routine or complex tasks do not decline simply because someone gets older. While some physical jobs may require accommodation, many older workers bring experience, judgment, reliability, and mentorship skills. In 2024, 15% of people aged 65+ in B.C. were employed—higher than the national average. Policies that restrict benefits or pensions based solely on age contribute to discrimination, not productivity.

Myth 5: Most older people have dementia or serious memory loss
Fact: Dementia is not a normal part of ageing.

In B.C., only about 5% of people aged 65+ have dementia, and that rate has remained stable for years. Occasional forgetfulness is not the same as cognitive decline. Assuming memory loss simply because someone is older fuels fear, stigma, and exclusion.

Rewrite the Script After 50: Creating More Space for What You Want

For a long time, our culture sent an unequivocal message about wanting more for yourself, and it wasn’t a kind one.

 Back in the 1980s, there was a popular movie that championed the idea that “greed was good.” Over time, that idea fell out of favour, and rightly so. But something else happened along the way. Wanting anything more for yourself began to feel suspect. Self-interest became confused with selfishness, self-reflection with self-indulgence.

 

That kind of thinking can quietly hold you back, especially as you approach retirement.

If you’ve spent much of your life being responsible, dependable, and useful to others, it can feel uncomfortable, even wrong, to ask what you want next. Yet midlife reinvention depends on that very question.

 

Recently, I was talking with my adopted daughter, who has just turned 50. We were discussing work, savings, and the long view of retirement. She’s considering reducing her hours at work. Not because she’s lazy or disengaged, but because her supervisor is under pressure and, as a result, has begun micromanaging her. The work itself hasn’t changed, but the environment has, and it’s taking a toll.

 

At the same time, she’s thinking seriously about her pension and whether she’s saving enough. Turning 50 has sharpened her focus. It’s made the future feel real in a way it didn’t at 40.

 

What she’s doing isn’t self-indulgent. It’s thoughtful. It’s responsible. It’s the work of renewal.

 

For many people, 50 is a milestone year. It invites reflection, not panic. You begin to review the decisions you’ve made, the paths you’ve followed, and the ones you didn’t take. From that reflection often comes a desire to make changes, not dramatic gestures, but meaningful adjustments.

 

I’ve seen this before.

 

When Boomers began turning 50, many lives shifted. Divorce rates rose as couples re-evaluated relationships that no longer fit. People changed jobs, redefined friendships, and questioned long-held assumptions about success and happiness. Beneath all of that was a search for voice and values, a desire to live more honestly in the time that remained.

 

Reinvention often begins here, but it doesn’t end quickly.

 

For some, it takes years to find the courage to make the changes they sense they need. That’s normal. The important thing is not speed, but direction. Starting the journey matters more than finishing it neatly.

 

Creating more space for what you want doesn’t mean taking something away from others. It means reconnecting with your own voice and allowing it to be part of the conversation again. It means aligning your days with your values, rather than simply filling them with obligation.

 

Retirement is not a reward for endurance. It’s a chapter of life that needs to be shaped with care.

 

As this series closes, I hope you take one idea with you: wanting something more for yourself is not a moral failing. It’s a natural, healthy response to experience, reflection, and growth. The work of midlife is not to disappear quietly, but to create a life that feels true to who you are now.

 

The script doesn’t end at 50. That’s where many people finally pick up the pen.