How to survive a millennial midlife crisis

How to survive a millennial midlife crisis

From It's Been a Minute by NPR

May 6, 2026 · 17 min

About this episode

The episode explores the unique challenges and characteristics of the millennial midlife crisis compared to previous generations.

Many millennials either are already in their 40s or are staring them down. Are they having a midlife crisis? As this generation enters midlife, their lives look really different from their parents' lives: Millennials are more educated and have a higher median net worth , but the generation is also more unequal than previous generations, has higher debt and has lower rates of homeownership and marriage . How does that all shape what millennial midlife crises are starting to look like? Brittany finds out with Vox senior correspondent Alex Abad-Santos , who recently wrote an article about the millennial midlife crisis, and Sara Srygley , research associate at the Population Reference Bureau. This episode originally aired on June 20, 2025. For more episodes about the forces shaping Millennials’ lives, check out: You're not broken - the job market is. Enough is enough. Is it time to leave America? The ugly truth of America's expensive homes Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus. Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and…

People in this episode

Host: Brittany

Guests: Alex Abad-Santos, Sara Srygley

Topics covered

  • millennial midlife crisis
  • generational differences
  • debt
  • homeownership
  • education
  • inequality

Keywords

  • millennials
  • midlife crisis
  • debt
  • homeownership
  • inequality
  • education
  • generational differences

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Vox, Population Reference Bureau

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