How Does a Leap Year Affect Your Age

A leap year is a calendar situation where a certain year has 366 days (instead of 365) due to the addition of a day to February. Occurring every four years and featuring a February 29th, leap years tend to ruffle the feathers a bit, especially when it comes to age calculation and birthday celebrations. Hence, people tend to question how the periodic adjustment tends to affect their age. So then, let’s learn the impact of leap years on age calculation, how they work, and whether you get to celebrate your birthday only on leap years as a leap-day-born.

Understanding Leap Years

A leap year occurs every four years to align our calendar with the earth’s orbit. Given that it takes the earth approximately 365.25 days to rotate around the sun, we simplify our calendar to 365 days per year. However, those extra quarter-days accumulate over four years, resulting in an extra day added to February as the 29th in what we call leap years.

How Leap Years Affect Age Calculation

As we have come to know that leap years are not artificially added, how then do we account for our leap year age as our calendar accounts for its own? Let’s talk about situations where leap years may be considered in age calculation. 

For someone born on February 29th, their actual birthdays occur only once in four years. Meanwhile, in non-leap years, their age still increases as we measure the passage of time with age and not the occurrence of birthdays. See the following example to understand better:

• If a girl named Maria was born on February 29, 2012, years like 2013, 2014, and 2015 don’t include a February 29th. In these non-leap years, while she might choose to celebrate on February 28th or March 1st, she officially completes another year of age when March 1st arrives. Even without the specific date, her age still increases every year.

For someone born on any other day, a leap year doesn’t change the date of their birthdays. However, the presence of an extra day (Feb. 29) during leap years should be considered when calculating the age of someone in days or months, or for partial years. Let’s see how this applies: 

• Take, for example, David, born on March 10, 2001. Regardless of leap year or not, his birthday will always be on March 10th every year. However, when trying to calculate David’s current age down to the month and days, then it is important to remember the added days that come in leap years and the month it is added to. Hence, counting the exact days between March 10, 2003, and March 10, 2004, gives you 366 days because it includes the extra day in February 2004. But doing the same for March 10, 2005, to March 10, 2006, will only provide 365 days.

How Leap Year Birthdays Work (February 29)

Ever wondered how someone born on February 29 celebrates their birthday? Well, let’s find out. As a unique date that occurs only every four years, February 29th somewhat presents a dilemma to leap-day-borns. But here are things to consider that have become norms:

• Birthday Celebration: During non-leap years, people born on February 29th celebrate their birthdays on either the 28th of February or the 1st of March. Picking the day you wish to celebrate ultimately boils down to personal preference or legal prescriptions.
• Age Increments: Despite leap birthdays occurring only once in four years, age still increases on non-leap years. For calculation purposes, people born on February 29th officially become a year older on the 1st of March during non-leap years. 

Conclusion 

By understanding the impact of leap years on age, one can accurately calculate their age in the face of calendar irregularities. While leap years introduce an extra day every four years to align our calendar with Earth’s orbit, they don’t alter the fundamental way we age.