Page 7 | To think that 40s is not 'middle aged'

Beancounter1 · 2022-12-15T19:25:01+00:00

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?

VaccineSticker · 15/12/2022 21:51

Sorry to interrupt this very serious debate but:
🎤Forever young I want to be forever young- do you really want to love forever? Forever forever young 🎶🎤
jumps around the room….

TiaraBoo · 15/12/2022 21:53

Well I’m identifying as a pensioner. Please can someone pay me a pension right now (will accept lottery winnings as am not picky)

onmywayamarillo · 15/12/2022 21:54

I'm 51 don't envisage living until I'm 102!

So yes 45 is middle aged 😬

BogRollBOGOF · 15/12/2022 21:55

I might be halfway to average life expectancy, but I'm having great fun playing at being young still. I've inadvertantly had a child ticket in the past year. I won't vouch for the quality of eyesight involved, but I'm claiming the win 😁

Nowt wrong with clinging on to youth; it's otherwise a long time to be picking yourself up off the floor or saying "oof" when you move. I aim to "fall over" rather than "have a fall" for a long time to come.

Getoff · 15/12/2022 21:59

When I was a teenager, I thought middle-age started at 30. By 30 people had stopped doing young people things like surfing or playing in bands, and were married and in their life-time careers, and having children. They were no longer young and free.

Forty years later, I still think middle-age starts at 30.

If 80 is more or less the end of what we can count on, with average luck, then 10 years either side of 40 defines middle-age. So 30 to 50 is middle-age.

Shortly after I turned 50, I started finding it more difficult to do the same exercesize regime I'd been doing for the previous ten years. My body was starting to decline, I could no longer do what I was used to, even though I should have been conditioned to do it. So I definitely think of 50 as a turning point, not a good one.

WandaWonder · 15/12/2022 22:00

My list would probably be

0-12 child
13-17 teenager (although 18 & 19 has the word teen in it)
18-21 young adult although I don't ry feel the need to add the young bit normally
22+ adult
Then pensioner when you are one

vodkaredbullgirl · 15/12/2022 22:10

I object to being called middle aged.💀

TheLostNights · 15/12/2022 22:12

I consider 40 the start of middle age. I am almost there and it horrifies me. Just seems so old and depressing how fast time goes.

GettingStuffed · 15/12/2022 22:13

I'm heading towards 60 and still don't do consider myself as middle aged

PurpleParrotfish · 15/12/2022 22:14

I defend my right to see middle age as a life stage (roughly when your kids are teens / young adults but no grandkids and you’re not retired) rather than a mathematical point. Especially as we’re on Mumsnet where most people seem for some reason to understand ‘middle class’ as referring to the wealthy who are not ‘middle’ in any sense.
If you can’t be middle aged at 52 because you’re unlikely to live until 104, then where does that leave you? ‘Old’ at 53?

Original poster

Beancounter1 · 15/12/2022 22:19

Getoff · 15/12/2022 21:59

When I was a teenager, I thought middle-age started at 30. By 30 people had stopped doing young people things like surfing or playing in bands, and were married and in their life-time careers, and having children. They were no longer young and free.

Forty years later, I still think middle-age starts at 30.

If 80 is more or less the end of what we can count on, with average luck, then 10 years either side of 40 defines middle-age. So 30 to 50 is middle-age.

Shortly after I turned 50, I started finding it more difficult to do the same exercesize regime I'd been doing for the previous ten years. My body was starting to decline, I could no longer do what I was used to, even though I should have been conditioned to do it. So I definitely think of 50 as a turning point, not a good one.

Using your same logic about surfing and playing in bands <30 is 'young', not yet in the full throes of prime adulthood.
30 to 50 is prime adulthood.
I agree 50 (or perhaps 45) is a turning point, but it is the turn into middle age, not out of middle age into 'older'.

OP posts:

MintyGreenDreams · 15/12/2022 22:20

I definitely don't see myself as middle aged and I'm 42.Middle aged is 50-60 imo.Not literally half way through life but I'd call it middle aged all the same.

Stravaig · 15/12/2022 22:20

It's instructive to check the legal age at which you are able to do things. In my country you become able to do more things at 16 than you do at 18. So you prepare 14 and 15 year olds to become 16, young adults, en route to full adulthood at 18.

I suppose the trend to extend adolescence and young adulthood well into the 20's is one of the factors pushing all the other bands upwards. Along with improved health and longevity at the other end of life.

Mummyof287 · 15/12/2022 22:21

If I was thinking of someone 'middle aged' I would be thinking of someone around 50

declutteringmymind · 15/12/2022 22:21

I love middle age! I'm in my prime. 44

Embrace each stage of your life.

BellePeppa · 15/12/2022 22:23

MavisMcMinty · 15/12/2022 19:53

More seriously though, 45 is middle-aged by most people’s standards, isn’t it? Elderly from 67 onwards, as that’s the retirement age (which is of course very likely to rise).

To me no way is your sixties elderly. Elderly sounds frail.

MintyGreenDreams · 15/12/2022 22:23

I suppose its all in how you feel.My 70 yr old dm described someone as elderly the other day who was a few years older as if there were generations between them

Fairislefandango · 15/12/2022 22:24

I think a lot of people shift the age they consider to be middle-aged as they get older, to avoid falling into the bracket! I'm not fussed tbh. I'm 51 and have considered myself middle-aged at least since I was 40. Doesn't bother me in the slightest!

ValK · 15/12/2022 22:24

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

ZenNudist · 15/12/2022 22:25

35+ is middle aged.

HamBone · 15/12/2022 22:25

Physically yes, I think 40's would be middle-aged, given overall life expectancy. I'm 48 and happy to be middle-aged as I can't imagine making it to 90, let alone older.

Mentally, however, I think your 40's and 50's are the prime adult years. You're comfortable with who you are, generally more confident (at least the people I know) and have a positive outlook on life. It always amazes me when I see studies showing that your 40's are your most unhappy age...not among my friends!

HamBone · 15/12/2022 22:26

I am now mid-40s, but have never felt younger or healthier. Physical youth is obviously a thing, but youth is also very much a state of mind.

@ValK You've expressed it far better than me!

shinynewapple22 · 15/12/2022 22:29

WhiteArsenic · 15/12/2022 19:41

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'm a similar age to you and agree with this . I accept I'm more than half way through my life but I would never describe myself as 'old'.

TigerDroveAgain · 15/12/2022 22:29

I am surprised people think middle aged literally means in the exact mid point of one's life: surely its a bit more subtle than that

Im 60 and struggling with being middle aged, but have to accept it's probably true. But am I getting on a bit, or not that old? Fuck, no

tallgirl232 · 15/12/2022 22:32

40s is middle aged and if you consider many will die in their 80s. The average life expectancy in the UK is 83 years old