For Black workers, age discrimination strikes twice

Employers tend to assume White workers come from a more privileged background, so when they see them apply for an entry-level job in middle age, they may think there’s something wrong with them. When White people are applying for an entry-level job in middle age, employers will think, “Why are you here? You should have accomplished more,” Jones said. But when they see a Black person applying for the same job, their expectations fall, and they implicitly accept that this middle-aged person should be doing entry-level work.