THE RISE OF MIDLIFE LONELINESS

It’s an age when a lot of us feel our most content, but for others, it’s our loneliest era. Woman's Own investigates...

- JOHANNA BELL.

Reaching our mid 40s and 50s is a time in our lives when we expect to be our most settled and content. Our children have grown up and we've got our independence back, we're settled in to our jobs and are a bit more financially stable than we were 20 years ago. And for many of us, it really is our time to enjoy life to the fullest. But for a lot of us, there's something missing. According to a recent study, middle-aged people in England are the loneliest in Europe.

But why? With an increase in remote working coming off the back of the pandemic, and a cost-of-living-crisis to contend with, many of us have seen a reduction in our social interactions. But is there more to the midlife loneliness crisis? We talk to two middle-aged women about their experiences...

‘Despite having my family, I craved female friendship’

Maria Jones, 46, lives in Aberdeen with her husband Ifor, 56, and their son Andreas, 16. Walking past a coffee shop, I looked inside at the groups of women sitting around chatting and laughing together and felt a pang of envy. At 46, I have no female friends to gossip with or to meet up with and catch up about our weeks. Throughout my 20s and 30s, I had a large social group and a bustling social life, but over the last few years my friendships have all but dwindled and now I find myself lonelier than ever.