At 44, I thought I’d have the millennial dream. Instead we’re exhausted, ill and miserable

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I’ve often thought that the best thing I could do right now for my health and wellbeing would be to work less ...

There’s a meme doing the rounds on Instagram which suggests that Geriatric Millennials like me aren’t ageing at the same speed as our parents because we pickled ourselves in an alcoholic marinade in the early 2000s. It’s true that, if you compare pictures of family members at the same age, there’s a distinct difference in what I see in the mirror now. But although those of us in our forties might be benefiting from good clothes, make up or even “tweakments” that can disguise our chronological age, we aren’t statistically in the great shape we think we are. Maybe all those boozy nights really did take their toll?

As I descend deep into my fourth decade, the reality is that I don’t feel particularly well. I’m exhausted by the demands of parenting and working hard in a sector that’s struggling, while simultaneously managing a family home, doing some exercise, trying to provide a decent dinner that keeps us all topped up with vitamins, protein and fibre and tackling the endless school admin. I’ve got some ongoing health issues, too: happily nothing that’s going to shorten my lifespan, but irritating and sometimes painful conditions – one which required surgery late last month – which nag and sap reserves.

I’ve often thought that the best thing I could do right now for my health and wellbeing would be to work less. My own mother suggests it almost weekly, but with the cost of living still spiralling, that’s just not an option for my family.

Lots of us apparently feel the same way. Last week, data analysis released by the Resolution Foundation caused consternation among economists when it suggested that nobody wants to knuckle down to work anymore. According to the study, there has been a sharp decline in the number of people who want a full time, 40-hour a week graft, with the majority of us now ideally looking for flexible or part-time work. The proportion of working-age adults who want to work full-time has fallen from 57 per cent in 2015 to 47 per cent in 2025.

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