At what age do we become "old?" This is a question a team of European researchers has been asking. The age at which people think old age begins has moved in time, according to a new study. Many people also like to believe they haven't yet reached old age, even as they get older. The research team looked at data from the German Ageing Survey, which included more than 14,000 participants. The participants were born between 1911 and 1974, and answered survey questions over a 25-year period between 1996 and 2021. They were aged between 40 and 85 when they began answering the questions, and more participants joined the survey in time. People were asked a lot of questions, including: "At what age would you describe someone as old?" The researchers found that when people born in 1911 got to the age of 65, they thought old age began at 71. But when those who were born in 1956 got to 65, they thought old age began at 74, on average. However, the study also found that people's perceptions of old age changed as they got older. At the age of 64, the average participant said old age began at about 75. But at the age of 74, the average participant said old age began at about 76. Study author Markus Wettstein said he wasn't sure if this meant people had a positive or negative view of old age. Better health care and increased life expectancy in recent years may also have affected people's perceptions, he said.