What age does the term middle aged start being used?

[fla4fun]

But it’s probably not 130… I think middle age is the middle spot between birth and death. I’m going with 40.

Sorry, I didn’t express myself well. Someone upthread mentioned a range for middle age, and that is what I was meaning. I think people start thinking of themselves as middle aged around 45 and move to the senior mindset around 65 when they retire. Actual middle age is probably more around the mid thirties, but if you ask a 35 year old if they are middle aged they will say “No way,”. 40 is also a good number, but I still think most people would consider themselves young at 40. Circumstances probably play into it a lot also. I would imagine someone who has never been married at 40 will feel differently than a couple who married young, and their children are grown up and perhaps married themselves.

 

[disneychrista]

AARP has been sending me things since I turned 20. That was 30 years ago.

My younger daughter not only gets AARP but senior seminars etc since she was a a young teenager. I just assumed she put her birth year as 39 somewhere online instead of 93.

 

[mjkacmom]

Sorry, I didn’t express myself well. Someone upthread mentioned a range for middle age, and that is what I was meaning. I think people start thinking of themselves as middle aged around 45 and move to the senior mindset around 65 when they retire. Actual middle age is probably more around the mid thirties, but if you ask a 35 year old if they are middle aged they will say “No way,”. 40 is also a good number, but I still think most people would consider themselves young at 40. Circumstances probably play into it a lot also. I would imagine someone who has never been married at 40 will feel differently than a couple who married young, and their children are grown up and perhaps married themselves.

I agree with you about peoples perceptions of middle aged, but I think most are wrong. Do I feel middle aged at 55? Sure, but i know I’m actually past it.

 

[Mysterian]

I've never felt my age, and I'm thankful for that. So many people are always griping about their bodily warranty expiring due to their butt or ankles aching. But the main thing to remember, no matter how old you are, is that no time is guaranteed. Not even middle-age should be taken for granted, else we misspend it like our misspent youth.

I misspent my youth, anyway. Spent it on a Costco bag of chicken tenders. You go and do that, and life gives you gristle! Actually I have no clue what I'm talking about, I'm waiting for a vendor to call me back so you get to deal with me saying things.

 

[pinkxray]

I’d say around 40.
I just turned 40. My teenage daughter just got a job at Loft. I asked her who mainly shops there and she answered middle age woman. You know, people my age.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Curiously, the magical year of middle aged keeps going up by one year old per year.

 

[AppleDumpling]

Can’t take credit for the quote, but my aunt used to say: “Middle age is when your broad mind and narrow waist begin to change places.”

 

[RedAngie]

Maybe in 10 more years. I’m 61.

About 20 years ago a coworker was telling me about his grandmother. She was in her 80s and still claimed she was middle aged.

 

[marthachick]

My grandma lived to almost 106, so at 57 I guess I’m middle aged. Lol

 

[JLTraveling]

I always assumed it was somewhere around 35-40, but RVing around the country really changed my perspective. There are SO many healthy, active seniors now....people in their 80s and above who are hiking all over the place and dancing till dawn and just living their best life. Is less than half their age really middle aged? I'm not so sure. I suppose you can base it on life expectancy, but that is and always has been offset by infant mortality and childhood deaths and maternal deaths and all, so you're not necessarily halfway through your life when you reach half of "life expectancy."

I'm thinking it's more of an outdated concept referring to life stages as they were defined in the 1950s....before extended adolescence became a thing. While there were always exceptions, on the whole in the US, people got married in their late teens/early 20s and started having kids. The kids were grown and gone by the onset of "middle age", which had more to do with being an empty nester than anything else (and an excuse for a midlife crisis). And people generally retired at 65, which marked their transition to "old age." And people were, as a whole, expected to act certain ways at certain ages/life stages.

Now? I know 40 year olds with adult kids, but also 40 year olds with newborns and 40 year olds still waiting to meet the right person ("spinsters" or "confirmed bachelors" back in the day!!). I know 70 year olds who are no hurry to retire and self-made people who retired at 30. And of course, the aforementioned 80-somethings who live like they were 21 again. I think the ideas of middle age and old age have outlived their usefulness, and now people are on a far more personalized journey. Just my opinion.