AARP found that they're the biggest swing voting block in the upcoming election: more than 60 million strong.
AARP is out with a new survey of women age 50 and up. They’re a large demographic — 62 million, according to AARP — and are more likely to vote than other cohorts. They’re also a swing voting bloc.
Oh, and women 50 and over tend to be bummed out about the economy. The survey finds that 38% listed “cost of living” as the biggest issue facing the country ahead of immigration, threats to democracy and political division.
AARP found that women in the 50+ age bracket are upbeat about some things, noted Margie Omero, a Democratic pollster who worked on the bipartisan research team.
“Things that were going well? Taylor Swift. And what’s not going well? People said costs, rising costs,” she said.
Those rising costs are dragging down women’s personal economies.
“Nearly half think that over the next year their own financial situation is going to become less secure,” said Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson.
Also on the research team, Soltis Anderson said that more than half of women currently working worry they won’t have enough money to retire. And many who are retired are struggling to make ends meet.
The burdens of caregiving are also stressing everyone out; more than half of respondents have cared for a parent, spouse or adult child, or are doing so now.
Economist Quincy Krosby at LPL Financial sees this in her personal life and at work.
“Many colleagues I have, they take off without pay to take care of family members. And yet it’s as if the government — in terms of taxes or benefits — just pay no attention,” she said.
More than eight in 10 women AARP surveyed want paid family leave for caregivers.
