Middle age

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the historical era, see Middle Ages.

Middle age is a non-specific stage in life when a person is neither young nor old, but somewhere in between.

Various attempt have been made to define the range and these tend towards the third quarter of the average life span of human beings. According to Collins Dictionary, this is "... usually considered to occur approximately between the ages of 40 and 60", The OED gives a similar definition but with a later start point "... the period between youth and old age, about 45 to 60." The US Census lists middle age as including both the age categories 35 to 44 and 45 to 54. Erik Erikson sees it ending a little later and defines middle adulthood as between 40 and 65. The precise definition of middle age depends on average life-expectancy in the country concerned, and to an individual's attitude to aging.

In many Western societies this is seen to be the period of life in which a person is expected to have settled down in terms of their sense of identity and place in the world, be raising a family (if their lifestyle includes this pursuit), and have established career stabilty. It is also a period often associated with the potential onset of mid-life crises.

Most women go through the menopause during middle age (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/medical_notes/455393.stm).

Some people (http://www.saga.co.uk) are challenging the concept that middle age is something to dread. They assert that with the right attitude and careful planning, middle age can be truly a person's best years. Those age-positive groups range from advocacy groups such as the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) to purely social clubs like the Red Hat Society.