To wonder why up to 35 is now considered young

[thedaywewillremeber]

I’ve just seen an article where young people are referred to as being up to 35. Aibu to wonder why this is when it used to be 25 maximum that was viewed as a young person.

@OwlOne

wrt menopause,i'm 50 and my only symptom was heavy periods which I take progesterone only pill for and that's sorted it. it hasn't made me feel OLD. I feel like a very young older adult, not an older young adult. It's not like you're queuing up waiting to die.

Also agree that a 35 year old has AT LEAST six years until she could possibly be in peri menopause but it's much more likely to be a decade more than a decade, 13 years probably. So stupid to say 35 is old because you could be in peri menopause as ''soon'' as 6 years.

I'm 52. Menopause means I am too old to have children. That's a milestone.

Because young vs older isn’t really a number? More of an outlook ... people aged let’s say 25-40 may be looking at marriage/house purchase/starting a family, or they may still be being educated, or in training following education, still starting a career. The outlook and attitude of all of these different people and their life phase means that some 35 year olds will still be quite young in their outlook, with less caring responsibility and more disposable income. Things have changed a great deal in the last 30 years

@decoratingnightmare
John Finnemore referred to the thirties as "the old end of young". I like this definition. So by your late fourties/early fifties you would be "the young end of old".

Society assesses age by life stage, not physical attributes - childhood and youth when you still require support and education; young adulthood when you start careers and/or families; middle age when you are relatively settled and established, with lots of responsibilities set in stone; and old age, when your children are grown up and you are now beginning to be more reliant on support from others rather than being the source of support. Obviously, therefore, the concept of being “young” now goes on for longer, because people are on average getting round to starting families and even careers at an older age than in the past.

I’m 29 with a ten year old. I don’t feel young it’s lies. 😂

[quote yetanothernamitynamechange]@decoratingnightmare
John Finnemore referred to the thirties as "the old end of young". I like this definition. So by your late fourties/early fifties you would be "the young end of old".[/quote]
That sounds about right

https://www.webmd.com/baby/pregnant-after-35#11_

"You’re hoping to make a baby and wondering about your chances at “advanced maternal age” (the medical term for women pregnant at 35 or later). Age is one of the key factors that predict your ability to conceive. Your fertility starts to decline at age 30 and keeps on dropping steadily until you hit menopause.
That said, it’s not only possible to deliver a healthy baby after age 35, it’s quite common. Here’s a look at the odds facing “older” mothers.
By the Numbers
You’re at your peak fertility in your 20s. Healthy women that age who are trying to conceive have about a 1 in 4 chance of getting pregnant during a single menstrual cycle. In other words, 25 out of 100 women will succeed per month.
By age 40, an average healthy woman has only a 5% chance of getting pregnant per cycle.
At the same time, the likelihood of miscarriage climbs with your age. A typical 40-year-old has about a 40% chance of losing the pregnancy. That compares to less than 15% for someone in their 20s.

BY THE TIME YOU’RE OVER 45, THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF OBSTETRICIANS AND GYNECOLOGISTS SAYS GETTING PREGNANT NATURALLY IS “UNLIKELY FOR MOST WOMEN.”

Because people in their twenties are dicking around acting like they're 15 and people in their thirties are dicking around acting like theyre in their twenties. There's a thread on here with some jaw dropping replies to a 23yr old lady with her own home and stable relationship telling her she's practically a baby and don't be so silly trying for a baby at her age. Bloody ridiculous. Then there's the desperate threads of 'wish me baby dust at 45+' i bet they wish they were 23. Biologically we're not young at 35. Generations ago women were having babies at 16-22 over that was considered 'older' because in biological terms if you started your periods at 11/12 your eggs aren't in great shape by 35+. I get sick of seeing people being urged to 'think if your career. Go travelling' if say in mud twenties you definitely want to start thinking about mortgage /marriage /kids. And yes I know they'll be 101 scenarios pop up where that isnt possible. But generally speaking.

If life expectancy is 82 then 41 is middle age for I'd say 36 is early middle age to 46 is laten middle age. Anything before 36 is young and after 47 is old. Sorted.

@thedaywewillremeber

It’s not old or middle aged in my view but not really young either.

Well, then what would you label a person who is 30? If they're not a young person, an old person or middle-aged person then what are they?

@decoratingnightmare

It cannot go on markers like having babies and buying houses. What if you have not managed to do any of those things by your 50s? You will not be young

Some people are accused of never having grown up, though - society does judge childhood, being young, being middle aged, and being old by what the majority are expected to have done by a particular stage of life, whether people who do not fit that mould like it or not! Only scientists judge youth in terms of reaching physical and mental peaks.

Harry and Meghan are still referred to as a "young couple" just starting out. They're 36 and 39.

@ivykaty44

Many parents treat there teenagers in such an infantile way that they’re still growing up during there 20s, parents have delayed the process of adulthood

Spot on. Skip to the thread of posters talking to a 23yr old (mortgage stable relationship) TTC and berating her like she's 12. Parents are mollycodling their kidults well into their 20s now. My dh bought his first house at 18!

And, of course, some people are described as “old before their time.”

I think 35 is pretty young. I'm only just starting to feel not quite young anymore and I'm nearly 20 years older than that. I think you'd have to be in primary school to consider 35 middle aged. Middle aged means in the middle of your adult years, surely? i.e. 50something if we say life expectancy is 80something.

Who cares anyway? There was a thread the other week about things that are really weird when you think about them, and for me the fact that we constantly tally up the amount of time we've been alive and consider it important is definitely one.

People use "young" and "old" often quite relative to their own age. When you're a teenager or child a 35-year-old is a proper adult and an old person but then when you're 35 you'll have 50/60-year-olds call you young.

Also in organisations like the conservative party, they allow people in the 'young conservatives' if you're under 40, whereas other political organisations like greens etc cut off is at 30, likely because conservatism is more common to older people. So in some ways, it's relative to what you're talking about.

I'm 38 and I'd say I'm middle aged - middle aged is probably 35-59 in my understanding (and "young" definitely doesn't go above 25, maybe 18-24 is "young adult" before 25-34 is just "adult").
But "being middle aged" doesn't mean there's anything I can't do or am not allowed to do because of it...so it isn't a cause of any stress.

Some people are accused of never having grown up, though - society does judge childhood, being young, being middle aged, and being old by what the majority are expected to have done by a particular stage of life, whether people who do not fit that mould like it or not! Only scientists judge youth in terms of reaching physical and mental peaks.

I am childfree so I must be a young 52 then or not grown-up.

But then they say "having children keeps you young" so I don't know

@Ethelfleda

Ah shit, I turned 36 this year.

Me too 😂

@CallmeAngelina

Harry and Meghan are still referred to as a "young couple" just starting out. They're 36 and 39.

I think that's as much about it being a new relationship with a young child. I'm not sure Wills and Kate would be, and Kate is / coming 39 and Wills is 38

@amitoooldforthisshit

Because people, in general, are more immature these days a quick glance across this site is proof of that or even better still a look on social media.

Harsh but true.

I'm in my late 30's and still very much consider myself in the young category!

Slightly off-topic, but William and Harry are both older now than Diana was when she died.

I think it's one of those things where columnists and TV presenters are going into the next stage of their lives (see Caitlin Moran inventing the menopause, for eg) and writing about it as though it is New! and Startling! and so they are now the other side of 35 (some by a very long way) and looking at younger people thinking of them as "young". (Harry and William being good examples)

Look at all the things about parenthood that crop up every time a celeb has a baby? as though nobody had gone through that experience before.

Its not just "young" people delaying the on set of further ageing.

Older people are too - either not retiring or semi retiring, once upon a time 65 would have been ancient, now people in their 70s are hitting the gym and wearing trainers with suits and stuff

Age brackets are being blurred and I think it's good