Middle age now begins at 55: study

According to a new study, middle age in the modern world begins at 55.

In a survey of 1,000 UK adults aged 50-plus, people said that they do not see themselves as elderly until they are nudging 70.

Previous studies have pinpointed the start of middle age as early as 36, the 'BBC News' reported.

The survey for the on-line learning website suggests that as the population ages, new cut-off points are being drawn.

According to official national data, there are now more adults over 65 in UK than there are under-16s.

Although seven out of 10 early 50-somethings quizzed for the survey defined themselves as middle-aged, the average age at which the period of life was perceived to start was 54 years and 347 days old.

One in five people thought middle age did not begin until after the age of 60.

Almost one in five (19 per cent) said that being middle age is a state of mind, rather than something that begins at a certain age.

The research also asked the participants at what age they thought middle age ends. The average came in at 69 years and 277 days.

This suggests middle age itself now spans 14 years and goes well beyond the government's planned state pension age of 66.