To be surprised that 65+ is deemed ‘elderly’

[Helfs]

Off the back of another thread I wanted to see what the actual definition or classification of ‘elderly’ was and I was very surprised to see it defined as 65+

I always thought 80+ as being elderly so this has really surprised me. Especially looking at those I know around the 65-70 mark, they’re fit, healthy, living their best life and do not scream ‘elderly’ if you looked at them.

Personally I’ve always seen it as;
0-1 baby
1-3 toddler
3-13 child
13-19 - teenager
19-25 young adult
25-40 - adult
40-55 - Middle Aged

55-80 - old
80+ - elderly

So do you think this definition is fair on those who are 65, should the definition not evolve as life expectancies rise?

Average life expectancy may well be 84 but that bears no relation to frailty. My friends are all in their 70s, not a frail one between the lot of them. Most of them - unlike me - play golf two or three times a week. There are a fair few gym bunnies too.

We openly discuss it in my office, usually started by the older people with a "back in my day.." or a "when I graduated high school in X year..", but nobody there treats old as a bad thing. This woman in question told me she had three years left till she could access 25% of her pension, and then went on to give me helpful pension advice, and then went on to say that she felt it was her duty as an old colleague to make sure young people entering work knew about their pensions as her grandkids (young teens) didn't have a clue.

Aye true but they do exist! My MIL's little sister is 72 (yesterday!) and is incredibly frail.

It’s quite unusual to have a 52 year old with teen grandkids - perhaps it’s the being a grandparent that makes her seem older. I have friends whose children won’t even be that age when they’re 52.

I’ve never known anyone working age describe themselves as old - older, occasionally, but not old.

@blossomtoes That does not mean they do not exist.

I spend a reasonable amount of time at various activities with people 70+. Pretty much all of them are fitter than me, and do a hell of a lot more than I do.

One of them was telling me about a friend she'd had (who died some years ago) - who at 90 was doing meals on wheels deliveries. She liked "helping the old people" (who were younger than her).

Old is 80
Elderly is 90

It does mean that I don’t know any out of a reasonably large sample. Anyway I’ve got better things to do than argue about something so inconsequential.

I don't think I know more than 5 women who are 50+ who don't have a true grey or cool blonde bob TBF.

So only your sample counts?

Most of the ladies in their 50s in work are grandparents, I don't know anyone who is 50+ with children that aren't adults.
Plenty of people in my office describe themselves as old, but again it's not being used as a derogatory term. It's "I don't dye my greys, I don't feel the need to hide that I'm old, but when I was your age I used to have highlights" or "one of the perks of being old is that I get to access 25% of my pension pot soon" etc

Edit to add - by "in work" I do mean "in my work"

It counts a bit more than your single example.

Nah, I just lost my grandad at 89 and he was definitely elderly for the last several years. My grandma who died in her early 90s was just old thought.

Imo frailty defines the difference between old and elderly, not age.

I actually think middle age is 10 years older than whatever your current age is, old is 10 years older than your parents’ current ages (or what they would have been)!

More seriously:

young adult - 18 to 25
younger adult - 26 to 40
middle aged - 41 to 60
older adult - 61 to 75
old adult - 76 - 85
extremely old adult - 86+

That’s interesting. We are clearly from very different demographics, and I wonder if that is impacting who we think of as old.

I only know one person who was a grandparent at 50. I know far more people in their 50s with school-aged children (or who will have).

My grandmother still had a 6 year old child when she was 52. From that perspective it really doesn’t seem old!

That's interesting, I remember my school friends' parents' 40th birthdays, mostly when we were doing A-levels / early uni (and to our young teenage brains it was very much "wow that is very old"). I don't think any of my friends at that stage had parents who were 50+.

Also my grandmother was a grandmother by 40 and sadly passed away by 60. My other grandparents were similar ages, but lived longer, all passed by 75 though.

I agree. Most of my friends were born when their parents were in their 20s and have had kids themselves in their 20s or very early 30s.
Nearly everyone of DSs mates have grandparents in their 50s/60s. DS is one of the few with a grandparent in their 70s. But also more and more kids "these days" seem to have great grandparents they actually know. Most of my friends these days still have at least one grandparent.

These are the joys of an aging population. Quality of life has massively improved in the later years. Long may it continue

Elderly is 60+ I'd say.

Yes I knew lots of people with great grandparents in school. I just love the family photos that are great grandparents, grandparents, parents, children.
I'm early 30s and don't have any grandparents but I'm at that age where some of my friends have children and grandparents still.

I think it depends what sort of job you had during your working life & other factors which determine your overall health. This is especially so, if you had a manual job.

I believe that health starts to decline at 50

Some of my colleagues & friends have passed away in their 50s & 60s, which is far too early !

55 middle age, this is also the current age that you can access some private pensions

66 current state pension age - old

80 + elderly

I do know people 90 + who are going strong, but they are the exception

I have not met anyone who is 100+ yet

Me too.

I think you'll find that by the time anyone reaches 60 - 'elderly' is at least someone 20 years older!! My Mother, aged 86 at the time, referred to 'an old dear' I had been speaking to!!

LoL!! 😁

As usual it depends on social class. If you’re playing golf in your 70s chances are you’re pretty well off. You may well have health conditions like high bp but undoubtedly you’ll have better access to a decent GP and it will be better controlled. It’s well known that there are huge health inequalities dependent on where you live and your wealth.
On the other hand in my job I’ve met 60 and even 50 year olds who are relatively frail due to poverty and associated long term health conditions etc
yet you’ll have hale and hearty 80 year olds still very active who’ve had relatively comfortable lives, no hardship.

Looking on the Internet

I have found classifications

Late 60s - young old
Middle old
Old old 80+
100+ super old
105+