Kids, Gray Hairs, Mortgages: You're Unhappiest When You Reach Your 40s

Happiness is U-Shape Smile Curve for Happiness Unhappiest at 40s Unhappiest Point in Life Leisure Time Millennials Got Hit Hard millennials Benefit of COVID-19 Resilience

By Jo Anne Hubert , Parent Herald Jan 17, 08:19 am

Author and writer Sophie Brickman, soon turning 40, might also confirm this data. Do not get her wrong. She considers herself "decently happy" with her three adorable kids, a strong marriage, and a career she enjoys. However, when she thinks about the mortgages, the gray hairs, "living in the squeeze" between young kids and aging parents, and all those uncontrollable stressful situations, she thinks she might be "statistically fated" to be proof of the study.

Millennials have it worse

Brickman said that this could be the case for individuals in their mid-life. This may also be why there is the term "midlife crisis." Some studies stress that the most unhappy year, to be precise is 47.2 years old.

But wait, there is more! Millennials, born between the early 1980s to the late 1990s, Brickman included, are said to have it worse. She said her generation might find themselves "uniquely screwed" when they hit that low point in the U-shape.

Brickman took on a new urgency on this "smile curve" when she came across this year's data, American Time Use Survey. The US Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics study measures how people spend their days and how many hours are given to their daily activities. And it was depressing for her to find that Americans of all ages spend more time watching television than doing leisure activities such as socializing, reading, playing sports, or just relaxing and thinking. People nowadays cannot give their minds time to rest and just be. They need to always do something, or their minds always need to work on something.

It gets worse knowing that elder millennials, those between ages 35 to 44, are spending the least amount of leisure time compared to any other age group, which is a record low since the study was first released in 2003, Bloomberg reported.

If this is the case, being in the 40s will be the unhappiest stage and the most exhausting, stressful, and depressing.

There is a silver lining

Brickman, sadly, couldn't agree more, admitting that millennials have been working more and taking care of children more since 2003. The study results could be due to the self-help mindset forced on this generation, not to mention the Great Recession and then COVID-19.

An expert in economics and happiness, Carol Graham, added that living in a country that does not offer essential support and "devalues" time for leisure and vacation is also a big reason behind the results.

"Millennials got hit hard in so many different ways. The financial crisis, little kids at home during Covid - they've had a rough decade or two, and it's coming at a critical point. My guess is that the next generations may have it a little easier," Graham declared, as quoted by The Guardian.

But millennials can breathe calmly because there is a "millennial-specific silver lining."

The pandemic, no matter how difficult, transformed life priorities. Millennials now know what truly matters. As Graham puts it, going through difficult times pays off in the long run as it builds resilience. One can weather "shocks better" than most.

The 40s may be one's unhappiest point in life, but it isn't going to be every day, but it will also be one's bravest, the strongest moment each time.