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Understanding Age Calculation

The way a person’s age is calculated can vary across cultures. This calculator uses the most widely recognized system, where age increases on a person’s birthday. For example, someone who has lived for 3 years and 11 months is considered 3 years old, and their age will increase to 4 on their next birthday, which is one month later. This system is commonly used in most Western countries.

Cultural Variations in Age Calculation

In some cultures, age is calculated differently:

• Including or Excluding the Current Year: In certain systems, a person who is twenty years old is considered the same age as someone in their twenty-first year of life.

• Traditional Chinese Age System: In one traditional Chinese system, a person is born at age 1, and their age increases during the Traditional Chinese New Year, not on their birthday. For instance, if a baby is born one day before the Traditional Chinese New Year, they will be considered 2 years old just two days later, even though they are only 2 days old.

Handling Edge Cases in Age Calculation

In some scenarios, calculating age in months and days can be confusing, particularly when the starting date is at the end of a month. For example:

• Counting from February 20 to March 20 is straightforward and considered one month.

• However, calculating the interval between February 28, 2022, and March 31, 2022, can be done in two ways:

  1. If February 28 to March 28 is considered one month, the result is one month and 3 days.

  2. If both February 28 and March 31 are treated as the end of their respective months, the result is simply one month.

Both methods are valid, but the first approach is used in this calculator. Similar ambiguities can arise with other date ranges, such as:

• April 30 to May 31

• May 30 to June 30

These inconsistencies stem from the varying number of days in different months. In this calculator, we use the first method for consistency and clarity.