To think that 40s is not 'middle aged'

[Beancounter1]

Here is how my scheme goes:

0-10 childhood
10-19 older childhood and teens
20-29 young adult
30 to 49 - two decades of 'prime' adulthood
50-59 middle aged
60-69 getting older
70-79 old
80+ bonus time

Do you disagree?

Love the idea of 80+ being "bonus time"!

A 29 year old is not a young adult - I'd say young adult is up to about 21, maybe 25 at a push just because sometimes the range 18-25 is grouped together.

I don't know why you've put "prime adulthood" before middle aged. I would include middle aged in that really. I'd say middle aged is 40-55ish, and I don't think it's necessarily separate from prime adulthood.

If life expectancy is 80-something then I would say forties is middle aged.

It's the middle of your life expectancy so of course its middle aged. I think it's got a bad rep as being dowdy (the term middle aged spread really doesn't help as its puts the association in your mind that middle aged means losing your looks). But there is nothing wrong with being in the middle point of life, you know yourself better but still have (hopefully) plenty of time ahead of you.

If 'middle age' the middle of your life and most people will expect to live to 80-100, then surely 40-50 is 'middle aged' (I'm in that age group)

This is the thing, you need something between middle age and old age, unless you are going to have middle age going on a ridiculously long time that doesn’t make sense in terms of life expectancy. I’m 57. I know I’m probably comfortably over half way through my life, but I’m nowhere near old. Old is when you can’t do things through age related infirmity and are no longer able to work, surely? 60 is nothing like 80, these days.

I mean I'm 29 and you've got that down as "young adult" and I feel ancient so I'm all over your timeline 😂

At 40 I'd have said the same, I'm now 49 and definitely feel more than middle aged.

YABVU. Middle age is, by definition, around the middle of life. By your definitions everyone lives to over 100! 🤣🤣🤦‍♀️

(Also I’d be very offended if someone called me “young adult” in my twenties!! Young adult literature is for under age eighteen…)

0-12 childhood
12-18 young adult
18-35 adult (aka ‘prime of life’)
35-60 middle aged
60 until the end = old

I don't think there's anything prime about adulthood over 50. Quite a downward slope actually.

I'm 31 and still would think it's fair to call 40s middle age. Plenty of people die in their 60s too. So by 40 they're actually 2/3 there.

Yes, I started reading the invisibility thread but didn't read all of it. However, this is an argument I have with DH. He says 40s is middle aged.

I can see that it would be insulting to be 28-29 and referred to as a young adult, so maybe a scheme with 5's instead of whole decades:

18-24 young adult
25-45 adult
45-65 middle aged
etc.

I don't include childhood or teens when counting the middle, only adult years, so 80 minus 20 give 60 years of adulthood, so 20 + 30 gives 50 as the middle.
Which would logically mean 45 to 55 was middle aged.

It's just that 40's still seems too young to be middle aged - many mums still have children in school in their 40s, and retirement is not until 67-68 these days.

(FYI 43% of people worldwide make it to their seventies…)

But 40s is middle aged, statistically not that many people like to be 100+, 40s is kind of in the middle!

Forties is definitely middle aged. I’m early forties and have lots of white hair, my back and knees are dodgy and I am now infertile. Definitely nowhere near what I was like in my prime thank you!

Apparently the middle of your life is that bit between raising a family and getting old. So I guess it depends what age you had kids, if at all.

Of course 40s is middle aged, you are literally in the middle of your life.

Inventing new categories is just denial OP. Better to face it now, than have a big ole crisis in your 50s.

I'm 40, so coming up to being 'middle aged'. I think we need to reframe what middle aged looks like/ feels like. It's no longer over the hill, or the all downhill from here saying.

Myself and amongst my peer group we are looking the best we ever have, happiest and most settled we've ever been. It's a great age.

0-12 childhood
13-19 teens
18-24 young adult
25-44- two decades of 'prime' adulthood
45-64 middle aged
65-74 retirees
75-84 elderly
85+ bonus time

I don't include childhood or teens when counting the middle, only adult years, so 80 minus 20 give 60 years of adulthood, so 20 + 30 gives 50 as the middle.
Which would logically mean 45 to 55 was middle aged.

Middle Aged means middle of your life.

Seriously just face up to it. You are being a bit mad. It’s not saying anything about you as a person, it’s just age.

12 year olds aren't adults! They are children.

I mean if the average life expectancy is 80 (ish), then 40 being in the middle, is middle aged.

I'm early 40s and def feel middle aged when I look in the mirror in the morning, when my joints ache in the cold and rain and when I get the don't give a fuck rage.

I think people tell us we're invisible cos they're scared of us. I am frustrated that I don't have the limitless energy I used to have, but I'm harnessing the anger instead.

My uncle is 80. 80 on paper seems elderly, but face to face, he doesn't seem it. My gran at 80 was properly old. But then, many of the 70+ people I know retired before 60, whereas my gran 's generation had it hard.

I’m so glad you and your friends are happy. But you don’t look the best you ever have. That was 17 I’m afraid.

Depends how long lived you’ll be, but if your life expectancy is 75, then you’re middle-aged between the ages of 25-50, sorry ‘bout that.

I am 47 and I concur 😂😂