Cohort Working Paper No.1 - The 'Midlife Collision': Insights into the working lives of mid-years women

Abstract

Each year the Working for Women Research Partnership focuses on a specific population cohort. In 2025, the priority cohort is women aged 40–55 years who we refer to as ‘mid-years’ women.

This working paper foregrounds the voices of mid-years women, capturing the conversations that occur every day around Australia at kitchen tables, in work lunchrooms and online.

These conversations reveal a ‘midlife collision’ between mid-years women’s work commitment, capability and aspirations; the organisation and design of jobs; disproportionate responsibility for family care; and personal health and wellbeing. Caught between the competing needs of workplaces and family care, time pressure for women peaks during the mid-years. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, time pressure is amplified due to expansive responsibilities for community, country and cultural care. Flexible work can be a ‘game changer’ for mid-years women. When done well, flexible working arrangements can support mid-years women to not only survive but thrive in their chosen occupation and career without compromising other essential parts of life.

Based on extensive qualitative data collected from almost 400 Australian mid-years women, this paper highlights the current dynamics of the midlife collision, its impact on diverse groups of women, and how access to different types of flexible work across different industries and occupations shapes the mid-years work–life experience. The women whose experiences inform this paper come from across Australia, living and working in metropolitan, rural and regional areas and with varying levels of caring responsibilities. They work in frontline, onsite workplaces, and in hybrid and fully remote offsite settings. They include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, refugees and migrant women, LGBTQIA+ people, women living with disabilities and chronic illness, single mothers, single women, and partnered women with and without children. We include workers across a range of roles and seniority, including those who are managers.