If you’re unhappy in your 40s, you’re not alone
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| The middle of life may be a time of unhappiness and stress. |
The middle-age is miserable.
At least, that’s the implication of a new survey of 2,000 people from U.K. theater chain Cineworld, which found that life is “least fun” at age 45. Additionally, more than half of people say that finding fun in everyday life gets harder the older you get.
Previous research supports the idea that middle age is rough. Data from the U.K.’s Office of National Statistics (ONS), which looked at the well-being of more than 300,000 adults over three years, found that people ages 40-59 were the least happy and most anxious. And a working paper distributed by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that there is “much evidence” that “humans experience a midlife psychological ‘low’.”
In fact, there is a “happiness curve,” and it bottoms out in midlife, Jonathan Rauch, author of “The Happiness Curve,” explained to MarketWatch’s Alessando Malito. “The happiness curve is how aging, independent of other things, affects your happiness and it is U-shaped,” Rauch said. “It turns out the aging process drags your happiness down through your 40s, bottoms out around 50, and then aging increases your happiness for the rest of your life.”
So what causes this midlife slump? The ONS researchers suggest that the juggling of the multitude of responsibilities in middle age could be to blame, including “the burden caused by having to care for both parents and children at the same time.” Some 23% of American adults balance caring for their kids and their parents, and they often face financial challenges as a result, a 2015 Pew Research Center report found.
Midlife doldrums could also be related to the struggle to balance careers and personal lives, the ONS researchers wrote, explaining that while younger people might still be in school, “those in their middle years may have more demands placed on their time and might struggle to balance work and family commitments.”
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