Half of people aged over 50 say they have been treated with disrespect in the last year because of their age.
Those in their 50s and 60s experience ageism most often at work (37%) while people aged 70 and above most keenly feel it on social media, TV, films and news reports (44%).
But 29% of this group have experienced it in health or social care settings. And 23% have felt it on public transport.
For people in their 50s and 60s, just over a fifth (22%) have faced it in social settings.
The survey was carried out for a new anti-ageism campaign by the Centre for Ageing Better.
The three-year project, called Age Without Limits, aims to change the way people think about getting older and tackle prejudices. Nearly 2,000 adults in England were quizzed, including 1,435 aged 50 or over.
The charity says it will repeat the poll throughout its campaign to see if attitudes change. Chief executive Dr Carole Easton said: “Ageism is the prejudice that’s hidden in plain sight.”
“We see and hear casual ageism every day, it’s embedded in our society and even accepted as normal by many of us who are older.”
“Ageism scars lives. It is often dismissed as being harmless but if you look at the research or speak to people whose lives have been affected by ageism, you will soon realise ageist ideas or beliefs can be incredibly damaging for us as individuals and for wider society.”
“That is why we are launching this campaign to get the nation thinking differently about ageing, for the benefit of us all as we grow older.”
The campaign includes adverts, posts on social media and a quiz called Are You Ageist?
The charity hopes to prompt debate and conversation about the issue of ageism, whilst warning of the impact it can have on health, job prospects and the way people live their lives – with consequences for society and the economy as well as individuals.
Last week a parliamentary committee heard that ageism has a “hugely damaging” impact yet is a normalised and accepted form of discrimination and widespread in the UK.
Leaders of organisations representing older people told MPs on the Women and Equalities Committee there is a “structural problem” within Government, which struggles to think about age and to take the issue of ageism seriously.
The issue came to the fore during the pandemic, they said, when people were “emboldened” to publicly express ageist views.
