There's an interesting snap survey which has been reported widely in the media within the last day or so, conducted amongst 2000 adults by Benenden Health, finding that respondents on average believe that middle age does not hit until one is at least 53. A century ago, middle age was reckoned to begin around one's late thirties or early forties - whereas improved health and increased life expectancy for many has tended to push this date later and later. Of course like any stage of life 'middle age' is more a cultural construct than an a matter of a priori chronology - and the survey respondents appeared to agree, with 84% saying that you were only old when you felt old (though it is not clear from the article what was the age range of those surveyed. Social gerontologists have frequently noted a tendency for those currently in middle age to resist traditional understandings of the shape of the life course - perhaps a reflection of having been so strongly identified with youth - as the first 'teenagers' - during their own formative years). The research ends with a list of 40 'signs of middle age' put forward by survey respondents. At 41 and thus firmly into what used to count as middle age, I found that only 13 of these applied to me (many of which I have actually liked or done since I was a student), perhaps confirming the findings of the survey....!
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AuthorsIan Jones is Director of St Peter's Saltley Trust. Archives
October 2017
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