This reality combined with the experience of growing up with workaholic parents ( boomers actually invented the term) who valued company loyalty over all else shaped the priorities of Gen Xers with regard to work-life balance and gave them a leg up on healthy boundary setting. Most importantly, Generation X entered the workforce at a time when technology had not yet made possible the notion of being ‘on call’ 24/7 (sorry, millennials). That said, the role of technology during the Gen Xers’ formative years was pretty minimal compared to what it was (and continues to be) for millennials. The Gen X childhood coincides with the emergence of the personal computer-a major development that helped individuals from this generation adapt to future technological advancements.

While this can partially be attributed to people getting married later in life, many millennials say they have no intention to ever marry.There’s a reason why Gen Xers have been dubbed the “work hard, play hard” generation. In 2019, Pew Research found that only 44% of millennials were currently married, compared to the 53% of boomers and 61% of Gen Xers who were at a similar age. Millennials are less likely to get divorced - in part because they're less likely to marryĭivorce is another outcome people often associate with a midlife crisis.īut one has to be married to get a divorce, and many millennials haven't tied the knot. So when the midlife crisis comes, millennials may respond by taking a big vacation rather than buying a sports car. While some millennials may simply see experiences as great opportunities to fill their social media profiles, many say they genuinely value experiences. Generation X, or Gen X, is a term typically used to describe the generation of Americans born between 19, although some sources use slightly different ranges. It's among the reasons some have called them the ' experience generation.' Louis Fed found that the typical millennial family was 34% poorer than expected when compared to the wealth of 'earlier generations at the same age.' The impact of the Great Recession was named among the key reasons why.Ī 2014 Harris Group study found that since 1987, the share of US consumer spending on live experiences and events had increased 70%, and that 72% of millennials preferred to spend money on experiences rather than material goods. While millennials' net worth has risen in recent years, they only account for roughly 7% of the nation's total wealth, according to 2022 Federal Reserve data, far less than the 22% boomers held at similar ages. While this is more than the inflation-adjusted $43,000 and $39,000 Gen Xers and boomers earned at the same age, rising costs for certain big-ticket items like college, healthcare, and childcare have ultimately left millennials worse off. In 2021, the typical 40-year-old millennial earned $49,000. Many millennials don't have the money for a sports car, and if they did, they'd rather spend it on experiencesįirst, millennials have less money to spend. Buying a sports car and getting a divorce, for instance, two stereotypical responses to the midlife crisis, might not be preferable - or even possible - for many millennials. 'We believe the seriousness of this societal problem has not been grasped by the affluent world's policy-makers,' they wrote.īut even if the midlife crisis persists among millennials, they're unlikely to respond to it the same way as prior generations. Along with a decline in basic measures of life satisfaction, the researchers found middle-age upticks in intense job strain, suicide, sleeping problems, alcohol dependence, and extreme depression.

Last September, the National Bureau of Economic Research published a working paper that documented a 'crisis of midlife' in rich countries like the United States. And while there's nothing inherently treacherous about this milestone, there's reason to believe many of them could experience some form of a midlife crisis as they reach middle-age. Millions of millennials - whose ages range between 27 and 42 - will turn 40 this year, with many more following them in the years to come. The midlife crisis could be coming for millennials over the next decade, but companies shouldn't count on a spending spree as the newest generation to hit middle age has less money and different lifestyle preferences than its predecessors. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.

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