To wonder why up to 35 is now considered young

Your only as old as you feel, I’m 49 and I still feel young and I won’t have any one tell me otherwise, after all your a long time dead x

To be fair someone dying in their 60s would be dying young these days but it doesn't make a 60 something a young person

If someone dies at the age of 35, you’d say they were young, wouldn’t you?

TableFlowers I agree with the other poser that said -

"18-30 young adult
31-50 adult
50-60 middle aged
60+ older adult
80+ very elderly"

I would agree with that except over 80 being automatic "very elderly". While it is an age at which the years catch up quickly, it does depend on the genes you inherit. My mother's family are unusually long-lived (so much so that anyone dieing in their late seventies or early eighties is met with astonishment as to how "young" they were when they died so tragically early, and the cause attributed to something unusually stressful happening in their lives so as to upset the normal pattern).

My grandmother was an active cyclist well into her eighties, having only taken it up in her sixties, and one notable great great grandfather lived to nearly a hundred and stayed perfectly lucid and active by going on decent length daily walks right up until the end.

I think it depends on your outlook, your lifestyle, your fitness level, energy and well being.

I know people in their 60s who exercise, eat healthily, are fit and enjoy life. I know some much younger who are sedentary, do very little and are unhealthy.

But, as has been said, on here you’re a liability if you’re older and should just go and sit in a corner and wait to keel over. Particularly in recent months.

I'll be 67 by the time I can retire and I don't want to be considered as elderly as soon as I get my pension.

With a lot of people, it is their mindset. NDN's are only a year or two older than DH (who is several years older than me) and they have been acting like old-age pensioners for about the last decade. DH is most definitely nowhere near that stage.

I have friends ranging from early 20's to (relatives who are also friends) well into their 90's. Its not about the actual figure, I have met people in their 40's and by the way they act,dress, was shocked thinking they were probably 20 years older. I have a friend and neighbour in her 80's who goes to the gym, does samba classes.Then of course then,there's your "biological age". Had the tests, blood works etc, at 69, my bio age is 48, I was dissapointed it was that high.I am not try to "stay" young, just fit,healthy and active.

I don’t think muddled age the literal age in the middle. So yes 38-40 would be middle aged technically.

I agree with the other poser that said -

18-30 young adult
31-50 adult
50-60 middle aged
60+ older adult
80+ very elderly

65-69 "considered" middle age, I don't know many people of 138. The news/papers talk about elderly people/ pensioners, but surely today's older generation will be 67 before they become a pensioner. I had a friend retire at 50, and one of my DH's relatives retired in their 48's because they could afford to. 100 years ago, 20 would have been middle age, because of the hard life,poor health care,etc. I thought this was going be another "covid" thread, should we lock up the over 40's.

Am I being U to even wonder why this matters?

People age differently. I've noticed that some people age very quickly, and the attitude that an arbitrary age somehow isn't "young" but should be referred to as something else, or you should act in some more middle aged way, is one of the most surefire ways of ageing quickly. I think it also correlates fairly closely with poorer health expectations and life expectancy.

The classic example would be the woman who gets pregnant at 15 and by the age of 25 has 3 children and lives quite a hard life keeping all that together. Compared to someone who goes to university for 4 years, has a gap year or 2 working abroad and having lots of different experiences, then goes back to university and does a Masters, then finds a graduate job along with lots of other graduates and buys her first flat, and eventually meets the serious boyfriend with whom she will eventually marry and have children with. The former is going to age much more quickly than the latter and have experiences in life that may make her more cynical.

I also think you'd need pretty ill health not to still be young at 35 (or whatever).

Some people are also obsessed by age. I have a couple of lovely friends who literally cannot have a single conversation without mentioning their age in it somewhere, as in "now that I'm old". When in actual fact both are fit, active and in full health and still in their prime of life and in no way showing signs of becoming old. I think its particularly bad in Britain for making women over a certain age feel almost guilty for not adopting a pinafore and headscarf and hiding away. Other countries have noticably more women over 55 reading the news and not being pensioned off. Its very noticable.

I remember when one of the younger work colleagues said Debs was old. Debs is 51 and was absolutely raging that Layla (21) described her as ‘old’. Properly offended and everything 😂

I think the WHO defines 45 as middle-aged. However, I wouldn’t say that anyone over 30 is ‘young’ (speaking as someone who turned 40 a few months ago).

It's not @thedaywewillremeber

Up to 65 is now considered middle aged. 65-70 is late middle age.

It's not about a number, it's about how fit and active you can be.

The days of dividing life expectancy by two and coming up with a 'midlife' number are over.

Life expectancies are longer.

The retirement age has changed - someone who is thirty-five now has thirty-five working years ahead of them.

The average age of a first-time mother is 28.8. The average age for a woman to marry is 35. The average first-time house buyer is 33.

Who said it was 25 maximum?

I'm 32 and assume I'll live 'til about 90.
I don't feel young 'socially' because I'm married with 2 children but I feel like my body is still young if that makes sense.

35-45/50 needs a catchy name!

I also wouldn't call my parents elderly yet (58 and 64)

I agree its because we live/stay healthy longer.

It's been 35 for ages. I remember in my first job I was asked to be on a young persons interview panel to make up numbers - I was the youngest person on the team. I told the recruiter I was a bit to old at 24 and he told me "young person" was anything up to 35! That was 15 years ago.

My 78yo Mum has just had a young girl (34) move in next door. At that age DM had been married for 10 years, owned her home.(with a mortgage) and had a 7yo and 2yo, so she sees a single woman just buying her first home as very young

I ferl ancient after reading this. Am 42

We live longer. When they brought in the state pension in 1911 the average age to die was 68, you were older by 55, now the average age of death is 82 I think, middle age is considered 45-65 usually though this varies. I don't feel middle aged to honest, I've got friends my age with newborns.

It's because middle-aged became a pejorative term. The expectation that people would become 'grown adults' at 21 or even 25, behaving responsibly and supporting the common good, diminished.

The more senior boomers were only teenagers during their numerical teens, then buckled down. I think the demise of manufacturing, rise of service economy, the flexible workforce and then gig economy has a lot to do with this - it's how business wants cheap labour to view itself.

Adulthood and maturity, not eternal youth, was once the goal.

I think 35 as the end of youth about matches my experience. That was the age I got married at, and about when I started scaling back the boozing and clubbing. Got my first mortgage the year after.

It’s always been that way. Young and old are relative terms. When I was at school I thought my teachers, fresh out of college, were old ladies. When my D.C. were at school some of their teachers looked the same age as the students to me. When I started work I thought my 40 something colleagues were practically geriatrics because they were the same age as my parents. Now I look back on my 40 year old self and marvel at how young and slim and energetic I was.

My mum recently referred to her cousin and his partner as ‘such nice young men’. Both those ‘young men’ are retired and have their 60+ freedom bus passes!

It’s all relative.

I'm 37 and never really thought of myself as middle aged. Then again I have three children 15,12 and 9 so feel ancient half the time. My mums 55 so always think of her as being old even though she's not. I think her having me so young has messed up my view on what's old and what's not. My Nan is 82 so I'm lucky to have her still around as well and my children are very lucky to have a great grandmother.

Things have changed a lot. My Grandmother was in her 50s when I was a child, she could barely walk with arthritis, she was always an old lady.

I went to FILs 50th birthday not long after I met DH. I realise everyone seems old when you're young but they were old

I'm 50 now and run 40 miles a week, cycle 50m and went paddle boarding withba group of similar aged friends for my birthday party

However, you're still a veteran at 35 (as a woman) as far as England Athletics is concerned and not many professional footballers play beyond 35.

I'm not sure there was ever a 25 year cut off for being young though. Surely middle age never started until 35 (I.e. half of your three score years and ten) so what was the bit inbetween?