Understanding why optimism dips in midlife and how employers can help employees rebuild confidence and momentum.
Midlife brings valuable experience but also new pressures that can affect confidence and outlook. Our Life100+ research shows a clear pattern of declining work optimism through midlife.
This midlife ‘dip' highlights that confidence and career motivation often decline long before traditional retirement age, just as longer working lives are becoming the norm.
WeCare is your health and wellbeing app, designed to support insured employees through every stage of life. With a 24/7 UK-based online GP, mental health helpline and counselling, a get fit programme, plus much more, WeCare helps look after employee's wellbeing.
How we feel about life changes over time. Typically, we experience a U-shape trajectory in life satisfaction, which extends to many other measures of happiness, such as job satisfaction, a sense of control, and wellbeing.
We call this U-shape trajectory ‘The Curve of Life’. Extensive research has shown the curve to be a function of psychological changes across our lifespans rather than demographic factors such as affluence or background².
As we age and gain more experience, we re-evaluate what’s important to us and place a greater emphasis on emotional goals (feeling valued, making a contribution, connecting with like-minded people) and less emphasis on acquisitional goals, such as promotions or status.
A key insight of our first Life100+ report centred on the strong relationship between enjoying a sense of control and feeling satisfied with life. Simply, our data showed that the more in control we feel, the more satisfied we tend to be.
We’ve found that this sense of control is highest among younger adults, particularly those aged 25-34 – a stage when optimism is high. But during the middle years of life, both life satisfaction and perceived control experience decline significantly, before climbing again from age 55 onwards¹.
This pattern is especially pronounced for the ‘sandwich generation’ (ages 45-64), who are often balancing multiple demands at once, including peak responsibilities at work, caring for both children and ageing parents, and managing their own changing health and priorities¹.
Fig 1: Feeling in control influences life satisfaction Base: All (3,280), 18-24 (177), 25-34 (599), 35-44 (509), 45-54 (489), 55-64 (522), 65-74 (539), 75+ (445); Completely in control (529), Mostly (1,396), Somewhat (808), Slightly (364), Not at all (183)
This decline in perceived control aligns closely with the Curve of Life, reflecting a stage where external pressures intensify while personal bandwidth may feel stretched. As priorities shift from status and progression to fulfilment and purpose, maintaining motivation and optimism can become more challenging.
Our research suggests that if employers can better support people through the critical mid-years, they can help them regain a sense of control and feel more upbeat about work.
To help individuals and employers navigate the period, Dr Russ Denny, CPsychol and Mental Health Clinical Lead at Teladoc Heath UK, shares practical, evidence-based ways to support wellbeing and restore optimism.
How to restore optimism as an individual:
Employers also play a critical role in retaining midlife employees. Retaining skilled professionals at this stage maintains valuable experience and institutional knowledge. Employers can help by:
Employees covered by a Canada Life workplace protection policy have access to services such as WeCare, which offers one-on-one support for employees, from stress reduction to reconciling career and family demands. Routine health checks and expert recommendations dispel doubt and inspire confidence.
myStrength, offers personalised tools like mindfulness exercises and cognitive behavioural therapy strategies to help employees develop coping skills and stay hopeful through transition.
Midlife may bring its own particular challenges, but it also presents an opportunity for renewal. The well-recognised U-shaped curve suggests that happiness tends to rise again, with most adults reporting greater fulfilment and a stronger sense of meaning in later years. With foresight, access to the right resources, and open dialogue, both employers and employees can help make midlife one of the most rewarding stages of life.
Explore how employee motivations evolve through different life stages, and how longer lives are reshaping work, benefits and career structures.
Join our webinar to learn how menopause affects health and working life, and hear practical advice on creating a workplace where employees feel supported through this stage.
Sleep and stress challenges are especially common in mid-life. Explore practical ways to restore rest, energy and resilience through this stage of life.
