Help Really Wanted? The Impact of Age Stereotypes in Job Ads on Applications from Older Workers

Ian Burn, Daniel Firoozi, Daniel Ladd and David Neumark

Journal of Labor Economics, 2026, vol. 44, issue 4, 1223 - 1258

Abstract: We study the impact of age-stereotyped job ad language on applicant pools in the context of age discrimination. We construct job ads using language from real job ads collected in a large-scale correspondence study of age discrimination. We modify the job ad language to randomly vary whether the job ad includes language related to ageist stereotypes. We find that job ad language that is semantically related to ageist stereotypes but is not overtly ageist strongly deters older workers from applying for jobs.

Date: 2026
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