Exactly how old is “old aged”?

Ever wondered why shopkeepers, advertisers and businesses treat you like you are old, even though you don’t feel it? Well, sadly it seems to be a matter of perception. Clearly many in society think those over 60 are “old aged”. The stereotypes of ageing were laid bare in a UK survey last year, and we want to hear your thoughts about this today! We want you to tell us how old “old aged” is to you.

A survey of British people by a team of Government researchers in 2013 declared that “old age” is reached in the perception of most people at the age of 59 years, two months and two weeks old…. Sorry folks. By British standards, almost everyone here at Starts at Sixty is what they consider old!  The survey of thousands asked the question of people aged from 16 years old up and yielded some rather entertaining, if somewhat ignorant results!

The poll results said that UK people consider themselves no longer young at just over 40 years old, in fact 40 years, eight months and two weeks.

Commissioned by the UK Department of Work and Pensions, the survey found women think old age starts at 60 years, four months and two weeks and men think it starts at 58. Could this be because men tend to live shorter lives?

Then, to cut the data up another way…

Those that were under 50, when surveyed said that old age begins at a ridiculously early point of 46 years old.  And for those over 50, they think old age begins at 62.

And amongst the 16 to 24 year olds, the age where middle age was thought to kick in at was 32.  In the people over 80 that were surveyed, they thought their middle aged years began at 52.

I sit back from this and laugh. Having run Starts at 60 for nearly two year I feel I know how young most of you feel, act and live, and I know first hand the contrasting misperceptions the young marketers and advertising agency kids have of those who are over 54. [One day I’ll tell you some entertaining stories that would make your toes curl up about young ad agency kids and what they say about the over 60 age group].

So let’s bust a few myths today. Let’s decide how old “old age” is to us… and whether over 60 is indeed old age in our eyes.

And tell us what you think of the above assumptions. We here at Starts at 60 hope to bust the misconceptions in society that 60 is “old aged”! Do you think people unfairly think people aged over 60 are old?