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?

It's a standard term. Even if I had been throwing insults around, which I wasn't, I wasn't being ageist in any way.

Is "bonkers" not an insult?

It's obviously not an entirely standard term, given that there's a whole thread here of people discussing different notions of middle age 😂

Well I'm 46 and I would class myself as middle aged. Unless everyone is expecting to live to over 100 45 has to be middle aged, doesn't it?

45 or there abouts.

I remember watching Cold Feet and they refer to a bunch of adults in their late 20s/early 30s as “Middle Aged” which is hilarious to me but then again it was the 90s

😄

I am 45 and ‘technically’ middle aged but I don’t act like it . Or look or now my skin is becoming teenaged and spotty

40-59 id say

I would of thought so thats why I laughed when a poster said 70 is middle aged.

Fifty has always pretty much been the standard for middle age and I think generally it still is. Although things have changed, people live longer, look and act much younger. So I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say 60 is the new middle age.

It is a mindset.
I was born middle aged. My granny used to say I was like an old person in a young body when I was eight.
People asked me why I dressed like a middle aged woman when I was in my twenties all the time.
Now I’m in my forties and this is the first time I’ve actually felt comfortable with myself in my life.

It is quite the stretch!

50+

I just remember being 21 and people in their 30s and 40s felt a lot older than me. That's why I feel middle aged now, I'm never going to blend in with 21 year olds.

I'd say 40-50.
I'm within that range but don't feel middle aged, but then I do have some recurring aches and pains which don't seem to get better.

Added to that amongst my friends we discuss menopause, vitamins, exercise, skincare, our aging parents and our teen-young adult children. I'm sure we'll still be discussing those topics when we're 50+ though.

OK, I've been found out. I'm 69 so I'm pushing my own agenda!

Who cares age is just a number.

True if you're talking about the state pension or public sector. A "pensioner" to me is an age group rather than at what date they stop working. In theory a 55 year old could be accessing their private pension but I'd see them as middle age.

35+ maybe. DEFINITELY 40.

Any age that is halfway to an age that is considered quite elderly. 40 is halfway to 80. If I died at 80 I would consider that good innings.

I'm 42 and consider myself middle aged. I still feel 19 though. I'm the fittest and strongest I've ever been but I'm still middle aged age wise.

I’d say 50 and above, although I suspect I’m only saying that because I’m mid forties!
In reality it’s probably over 40.

Late forties to early sixties I reckon

Me too, I don't feel old enough yet

I'm in my 40s and about 5 years ago I realized a)I'd been thinking of my mum as middle aged and my grandmother as old for at least 25 years and b)I am now older than my mum would've been when I first thought that.

When you realise you’ve got a favourite tea towel.

40 is middle age and 70 is old age in my book.. and nothing wrong with either!

40-65ish. I don’t think people who are physically and economically active, and can’t even claim a pension, can be considered in “old age”.