The Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2005
The female midlife crisis
UCI MENTIONED: Women experience a more dramatic rebound in personal fulfillment at midlife, on the heels of a deeper dip than men in their child-rearing years. A study of MacArthur Foundation data by Dr. Wethington, Ronald Kessler of the Harvard Medical School, and Joy Pixley of the University of California, Irvine found that only 24% of women ages 35 through 49 said they had “fulfilled a special dream” in the past five years, such as acquiring money or property, accomplishing something noteworthy, finding a partner, or getting married. For adult women, this was the lowest ebb of fulfillment in their entire adult lives. By contrast, 40% of the men in the same age group reported dream fulfillment.

First Paragraph: The “midlife crisis” has long been thought of as something that afflicts men and often involves expensive toys and second wives. But the Wall Street Journal’s Work & Family columnist, Sue Shellenbarger, says that as gender roles change, women are increasingly experiencing their own version of these upheavals. What follows is adapted from her new book, The Breaking Point: How Female Midlife Crisis Is Transforming Today’s Women.