Ageism is discrimination against a group of people because of age. This is a growing problem in the United States because people are living longer, and they're remaining healthier longer as well. That means they can continue many activities much longer than previous generations, including work. Employers and the younger generation are often impatient for those jobs and may take actions that are illegal. That's called age discrimination, and falls under the federal Age Discrimination Employment Act of 1967. This federal law prohibits age discrimination aimed at employees 40 years old and older who work for businesses with 20 or more employees and conduct interstate commerce. The penalties in the Age Discrimination Employment Act can range from reinstating the claimant and paying them back wages to civil cases with awards of up to hundreds of thousands of dollars if the discrimination was willful.