A recent Wall Street Journal article suggested that stress is making GenZ (in their 20s) feel older, with mounting concerns about job security, debt, child-care costs and caregiving. They’re even greying earlier.
When I read this, I’ll admit I grimaced. Look, Boomers got married in their early 20s, had a couple of kids by the time they bought a home before they were in their 30s, and no one back then was suggesting that midlife started three decades after you were born. You want to see stress – these “keeping up with the Jones’” Boomers were full of STRESS!
Sorry, I got a little carried away. The malaise many young adults are feeling is real and has been called the “quarter-life crisis.” For many young folks, it’s a “failure to launch,” due to all kinds of factors. The reality is that Millennials and GenZ are hitting the typical midlife milestones later in their life than we did, so I understand what they’re going through, but saying that 25-year-olds are experiencing a midlife crisis just doesn’t make sense.
The younger you are, the earlier you think middle age starts. Those in their 20s think it starts just before 40. Those in their 60s think it doesn’t happen till 45. On average, survey respondents said middle age lasts from 43 to 61 (here’s a great Yahoo piece from a 61-year-old UK woman who has trouble being in that liminal space between middle age and old). But about 20% of younger people ages 25 to 34 feel middle-aged. Many of their fears are really future anxieties, most of them financial. While adults typically feel 20% younger than their chronological age, many young people say they feel ten years older.
How about you? When do you think middle age starts and ends? And, what are the hallmarks of being middle aged?
Keep an eye out for some 2026 MEA workshops oriented toward younger people as their level of low life-satisfaction is wreaking havoc with the U-curve of happiness as evidenced in this piece.
-Chip
