Intersectionality as a tool for analysing age and gender in labour law

Abstract

This chapter examines the value of applying an intersectional approach in analysing the position of older women in a labour law setting. In the labour market context, and in this chapter, older persons are understood as those who are perceived as approaching their post-employment years. Acceptance of the idea that the critical period with regards to old age and employment begins at the early end of a person’s working life is reflected in EU policies on active ageing and in the age discrimination cases of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which mainly concern employees from the age of just above 50 years of age and older. It is also reflected in research on age discrimination, and on perceptions and attitudes regarding employee age. Today, both age and gender are established as important factors in EU labour law. Nevertheless, possible intersectional effects of these two factors are still disregarded in the legal rules, as are effects of other intersectionalities. The chapter acknowledges that the conditions under which men and women live may have legal implications for older persons in the labour market. It also explores how stereotypical perceptions of older employees, together with gendered expectations and perceptions on the labour market, work to influence the content and application of labour law. An important conclusion is that, both in the social context within which the law is shaped and in the law itself, age and gender intersect to the detriment of older persons in the labour market-and this is particularly true for women.