Why Middle-Aged Americans Are in Crisis

There’s plenty of research on children and young adults, and plenty of research on senior citizens, but what about middle-aged people? It can sometimes feel like they’re the forgotten middle child of generational studies. But now, a new paper published in Current Directions in Psychological Science is taking a comprehensive look at middle-aged Americans, and it paints a pretty bleak picture. 

Arizona University psychologist Frank Infurna and his team compared survey responses from people between the ages of 40 and 65 today to middle-aged people from 30 years ago. The differences were striking. Compared to earlier generations, loneliness, depression, and memory problems are on the rise. A look at middle-aged people from other economically developed countries revealed no similar declines, and in fact some improvements. In other words, it’s a uniquely American phenomenon. 

As for why we’re so down-and-out, according to Infurna, upstream factors like public policy, intermediary factors like career stressors, and downstream, individual-level factors like interpersonal relationships all play a role. 

Read more: “Why Middle-Aged Americans Can’t Find Happiness”

For example, “sandwich generation” dynamics are partially to blame for the mid-life declines. Middle-aged people tend to have aging parents who are living longer and requiring more care. At the same time, their adult children may be struggling to navigate difficult job and housing markets to gain their independence. Put simply, being pulled in two directions while juggling individual needs is taking its toll. 

“It’s a sandwich generation, but on steroids,” Infruna said in a statement.

To complicate matters, middle-aged Americans are feeling the same economic crunch as younger generations. Rising costs compounded by labor market instability and less accumulated wealth compared to previous generations have made middle-aged Americans particularly vulnerable to economic swings and career stress. Additionally, middle-aged people in nations with more economic inequality—like the United States—report higher levels of loneliness. 

“The cost of living is just much higher within the United States, and there are fewer safety nets here,” Infurna said. “If something catastrophic or terrible were to happen health-wise or you lose your job, there’s not a safety net to fall back on compared to in other nations.”

A more robust safety net, like those in European countries, could help buffer middle-aged adults from economic stress and the cascading negative health effects that follow. Right now, the United States has no federal parental leave policy, no subsidized childcare, and only modest family spending policies compared to European nations. Adopting better support systems for families could go a long way toward breaking middle-aged Americans out of their collective funk. 

Until then middle-aged Americans will just have to comfort themselves with the knowledge that they had better movies, music, and fashion than other generations.

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Lead image: Orapun / Adobe Stock