A Life Course Approach to Addressing Exponential Inequalities: Age, Gender, and Covid-19
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2023
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Exponential Inequalities: Equality Law in Times of Crisis
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Oxford University Press
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Melbourne Law School
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Blackham, A. (2023). A Life Course Approach to Addressing Exponential Inequalities: Age, Gender, and Covid-19. Atrey, S (Ed.). Fredman, S (Ed.). Exponential Inequalities: Equality Law in Times of Crisis, (1), pp.233-254. Oxford University Press.
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Abstract
This chapter argues that age is an exponential amplifier of inequality. It puts forward a life course perspective as a nuanced lens for enriching our understanding of discrimination and its impacts over time. A life course approach offers a targeted focus for addressing exponential inequalities, drawing our attention to discrimination at critical transition points. Building on this life course perspective, experiences of discrimination over time can be seen as non-linear and multi-directional, but still interlinked and biographic, punctuating and shaping life stories in unpredictable ways. These ideas are illustrated through a case study of gendered ageism at work, drawing on empirical evidence to map how gender inequality is amplified with age and time, and further exacerbated by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Viewed with this life course lens, this chapter argues that discrimination law appears fundamentally ill-adapted for responding to exponential inequalities. The chapter therefore considers the extent to which ‘next generation’ positive duties—like the Gender Equality Act 2020 (Vic)—might address these concerns.