81% of millennials say they can't afford a midlife crisis

FILE - A middle-aged woman with a coffee and laptop. Getty Images

Millennials are approaching "middle age," with the oldest in the generation now 43 and the youngest nearly 30. 

Millennials have gotten a bad rap over time, chastised by older generations for spending their money on frivolous things such as avocado toast and coffee.

But with the upheaval of the financial, housing and economic markets in 2007, the careers of many millennials got off to a rocky start, if any. Coupled with record-breaking student debt and the pandemic’s recession, millennials aren’t finding themselves in the same spot in life as generations before.

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In fact, with all these uncertainties, one in ten millennials said in a new survey that they’ve already experienced a midlife crisis around the age of 34.

And 1 in 2 expect to have a midlife crisis in the future, with most anticipating it happening around the age of 44, according to ThrivingCenter of Psychology’s study

The center, which is a mental health practice that offers in-person and virtual care across the country, surveyed over 1,000 millennials of all genders ranging in age from 28 to 43. 

A majority of others think this type of crisis is a luxury they can’t afford: 

  • 81% of millennials believe they can’t afford to go through a midlife crisis.
  • And 58% say they don’t have time for one.

The millennial experience

Much of the millennial experience consists of a delay in life milestones, as 70% said they are not where they thought they’d be at this point in life. Nearly 1 in 2 (49%) said they feel trapped by their life. 

Most feel trapped because of money, life circumstances, themselves, or a compilation of all those things.

However, 62% of millennials have delayed major life milestones because of financial reasons, and 30% have delayed major milestones because of mental health reasons, according to the survey.

At this point in their lives, 62% of millennials do not feel financially stable and 38% do not feel mentally stable. 

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What will a millennial midlife crisis look like?

Millennials ranked the most common experiences they expect to go through as a generation during a midlife crisis:

This story was reported from Detroit. 

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