What do you consider to be 'middle age'?

[ToadRage]

This is a question my mother-in-law has caused me to wonder. When I was younger I guess I always considered 'middle age' to be those over 50 however this would only be practical if most people lived to 100, this is not the case. So now I am pushing 40 I am wondering 'Am I middle aged?' My husband is 44 and considers himself to be middle aged. How old are you and at what age did you or will you consider yourself to be middle aged?

I visited my 89 year old aunt last week in her nursing home, bless her she said im surrounded by these old folk.!

Quite. As I said, bonkers.

I’d say around 45-60 is middle aged. Not literally as in people live to 100, but it’s the middle stage of life. Young adulthood is setting up and trying things out, building a life for yourself, having kids (if wanted). Later life is winding down to retirement, more free time and dealing with age related health issues.

Middle aged to me means your path is fairly set and you’re just cruising along. The biggest life changes (kids, location, career field) are largely done with, so your path is fairly predictable for the most part in terms of career, housing/location, friendships, hobbies etc.

Your ageism is showing, I'm afraid.

Agree! I am 65 but nowhere near elasticated sensible skirts or complaining about my joints yet

I'll soon be 60 and I have a horrible feeling that if I were to me mugged or run over, the newspapers would refer to me as an elderly woman. I still feel like I'm in my prime though. I imagine I'm middle aged but my mental image of 'middle aged' is tweed skirts and sensible shoes and I don't fit that at all.
It's a fairly horrible term.

It's called 'middle age', not 'exactly fifty per cent age'.

I’m 62 and I certainly don’t feel old!

Exactly what my gtandma said when she moved into a home aged 99😀

Also I fell over the other day and the 20something year old colleagues said "she had a fall"

🫠 40!

I'm currently 35, and don't think I'm middle aged. I know people tend to think it's half way through your life, but I think it's as much about mindset as actual age. At the moment, I would kind of consider it starting at 45 - but perhaps when I get to 45 I'll think it's whatever I am +1! Haha.

It's ridiculous. I was never a girly girl, never really into clothes and makeup, so "letting myself go" won't be a thing, as I was never bothered in the first place. But my mindset.. I genuinely feel like if I went back to primary school I'd have a great time. I am soooo not approaching a middle aged mentality.

Rubbish! I have no aches and pains or ‘health issues’ at 65.

Here have this 🏅💐

🙄

There's always one.

Ahem, not a pensioner at 65 any more (sadly).

If you have middle age spread then your middle aged !!
If u don't then your not lol 😆
I'm 50 and I am NOT middle aged 😆

I’m late 40s and consider myself middle aged. However, I think it’s such a blessing…several close friends have had serious health issues over the years. So to be here and - touch wood - healthy is something to celebrate.

Please explain. 30 isn't middle-aged.
Middle age - Wikipedia

I consider middle aged to be the middle of your adult life. So 0-20 is childhood, 20-40 is early adulthood, 40-60 is middle aged, and 60+ is old age.

When I was 20 I remember thinking I was half way to middle age but then again 60 year olds were oap’s then.
I’m 42 and my youngest is 1 and I’m still looking at nearly 30 years of work when I go back to work and at least 10 at the school gate.
I don’t feel as old as my parents were at my age but then I look back at photos of my Grandparents who look like elderly people in photos at 50 and I look at my eldest brother who is 50 and still enjoying water sports and looks like he did in his 20s just without hair.
I used to think 80 was really old but my mums 80 this year and is as active as any of us and still looks younger than her mum who died at 62.
I know my Grandma sported a bubble perm since she was 30 and wore mid length pleated skirts with a floral blouse and home knitted cardigan for ever after and my Grandad in his Mr Bean suit they just seemed like old people because they dressed and acted like old people.

40 to 60

Middle age is 10 years older than you are.

I'm 62.
I'd say middle age is 45 to 60.
Old is 60 to 80.
80 onwards very old.

The question is "what do you consider to be middle aged?" not "what does a Wikipedia editor consider to be middle aged?" People will have a range of views and those views will be culturally contingent. You can discuss them without throwing insults around.

If your reaction to people having a different view to yours is to call them bonkers, that suggests to me that you're not seeing middle age as the middle period of life, between young adulthood and old age, but rather as a set of (probably negative) stereotypes. On the other hand, if you were able to see middle age as simply the period between young adulthood and old age, you might be more open to different views and to the idea that those views are informed by culture, race, nationality, life experience etc.

35 is middle aged according to our biblically allotted lifespan of 3 score and 10 years.

I’ve always considered 35 middle aged since reading Dante’s Inferno at Uni.