A new survey report contains a message for politicians: There’s a large voting block you’ve been overlooking for years and they’re likely to decide your fate November 4.
Women 50 and older will “very likely decide the balance of power in Congress and statehouses around the country,” states a new report from the AARP that underscored the fact that this voter cohort constitutes one of the largest voting blocks and turns out in droves at the polls.
In fact, women age 50 or more cast 30% of all ballots in both the 2020 and 2018 elections, despite the fact that they make up just 27% of registered voters, according to the AARP.
“Women age 50 and over can be the defining group in the 2022 elections,” pollster Celinda Lake, founder and president of Lake Research Partners, which partnered with the AARP on the survey, said in a statement. “They are sure to turn out in high numbers when many other voters are disengaging. These voters have yet to make up their minds, and are dissatisfied with the jobs their elected leaders are doing, especially on the kitchen table economic issues they face every day."
Of note to financial advisors, the “overlooked voters” are also intensely worried about whether they’ll have enough income in retirement, the AARP found.
“The instability and uncertainty of the economy, the pandemic and the political environment are leading these women to demand that candidates address quality of life and pocketbook issues like the cost of living, supply chain problems and ways to end the discord permeating politics today,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP chief advocacy and engagement officer.
Top issues for women voters age 50 and over are their personal finances, budgets and the reality rising prices. Nearly half (46%) rank rising cost of living as the top issue America faces today. Some 59% say they personally find rising prices to be the most alarming economic indicator, the AARP said.
Other survey findings included the following:
• 72% of women 50 and older “are concerned about having enough income to keep up with rising costs, with 48% saying they are very concerned."
• A majority (52%) say “the economy is not working well for them,” a 15-point change from 2019, when just 37% of women felt that way.
• The majority are not “optimistic about their own financial futures in the next 12 months," with 47% saying they think their personal financial situation will stay the same, while 39% think it will get worse, and only 13% think it will improve.
• Women ages 50 to 64 are “intensely worried about saving for retirement and their financial future, with 51% saying they are very concerned about Social Security being there for their retirement and 30% saying they are most concerned about having saved enough for retirement, the AARP found.
Only 17% of women in this voting bloc have made up their mind about who they will vote for this November, according to the survey. And 65% of these voters say they will not make their decisions until weeks or even just days before election day, the AARP said.