Midlife in the 2020s: Opportunities and challenges.

Summary & key facts

This paper says midlife (roughly ages 40–60) is an important, understudied life stage with both new opportunities and new challenges. The authors review evidence that some common ideas—like a widespread "midlife crisis"—are misleading, and they show that middle age often involves balancing many roles, linking younger and older generations, and facing rising health and financial strains. They note important differences by race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status, point out differences across study types (cross-sectional vs. longitudinal), and propose research, policy, and intervention directions to support midlife adults.

Key facts:

• Researchers commonly treat midlife as about ages 40 to 60 (plus or minus 10 years).
• When people were asked where midlife falls, the average answer was it begins at age 44 (SD = 6.15) and ends at age 59 (SD = 7.46).
• The idea of a widespread "midlife crisis" is unsupported: research finds only about 10–20% of people report experiencing a midlife crisis.
• Many large cross-sectional studies show a U-shaped pattern in life satisfaction with a low point in midlife, but longitudinal studies (which follow the same people over time) often find well-being is high and stable in midlife and some emot
• Midlife is marked by juggling multiple roles and by being connected to and responsible for people in different generations (for example, aging parents, adult children, and sometimes grandchildren).
• Current middle-aged cohorts face increasing prevalence of chronic illness, disability, obesity, and mental health issues, according to the authors’ review.
• The paper flags growing financial vulnerabilities in midlife tied to economic failures, labor market volatility, a shrinking social and health safety net, and rising costs of raising children.
• The authors note that midlife research has been limited but is expanding through longitudinal panel studies (for example, MIDUS, HRS, SHARE, ELSA, SOEP, HILDA), and they call for more work that considers diversity and historical change.

Abstract

Development is a cumulative, lifelong process, but strikingly little is known about development in midlife. As a consequence, many misconceptions exist about the nature of midlife and the developmental milestones and challenges faced by middle-aged adults. We first review dominant views and empirical research that has debunked false narratives. Next, we discuss major opportunities and challenges of midlife. This includes the unique constellation of roles and life transitions that are distinct from earlier and later life phases as well as shifting trends in mental and physical health and in family composition. We additionally highlight the importance of (historical shifts in) intergenerational dynamics of middle-aged adults with their aging parents, adult children, and grandchildren; financial vulnerabilities that emerge and often accrue from economic failures and labor market volatility; the shrinking social and health care safety net; and the rising costs of raising children. In doing so, we discuss issues of diversity and note similarities and differences in midlife experiences across race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. We consider midlife as a pivotal period that includes a focus on balancing gains and losses, linking earlier and later life periods, and bridging generations. Finally, we propose possibilities for promoting reversibility and resilience with interventions and policy changes. The suggested agenda for future research promises to reconceptualize midlife as a key period of life, with a concerted effort to focus on the diversity of midlife experiences in order to meet the unprecedented challenges and opportunities in the 2020s and beyond. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Topics

Aging and Gerontology Research Health disparities and outcomes Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving

Categories

Social Sciences Sociology and Political Science

Tags

Anthropology Developmental psychology Diversity (politics) Ethnic group Gerontology Law Life course approach Medicine MEDLINE Mental health Political science Psychiatry Psychological intervention Psychological resilience Psychology Psychotherapist PsycINFO Sexual orientation Social psychology Sociology