Women Voters 50+ See the Economy Worsening Despite What Economists and Politicians Say

Most women voters 50-plus say elected officials are not addressing the financial challenges they face, according to a recent AARP survey. The majority of women voters 50 and over are increasingly worried about the country’s economic challenges, with eight in 10 expecting housing and grocery prices to get worse in the next year.

Nearly two-thirds of women voters 50-plus (62%) say the current economy isn’t working for them, and 64% say they’re less financially secure than they expected. Unfortunately, 67% don’t have a retirement savings account through their workplace, and 70% lack an individual retirement account (IRA) outside of the workplace. Less than half (38%) say they have enough money to cover three months of expenses if they lose their income, and 41% don’t have enough to cover a $500 emergency expense.

Key findings

• Protecting Social Security from cuts (93%) tops the list when women voters 50-plus are asked what would help them personally, followed by lowering the cost of food (92%) and health care (84%).
• Women voters 50-plus say that people earning less than $50,000 a year (81%), renters (81%), Americans age 50-plus (79%), and people caring for older family members or loved ones (78%) are hurting in today’s economy.
• Among those who are working, more than half (59%) are not confident they will have enough money to retire at an age they would prefer. For those who are retired, 41% are not confident they have enough retirement money saved to avoid going back to work.
• 45% of women 50-plus who are still working say they cannot afford to save for retirement.

The 2024 presidential election

Conducted with bipartisan pollsters Kristen Soltis Anderson and Margie Omero, the national poll shows Kamala Harris leads Donald Trump by 12 points among women voters 50-plus (54% vs. 42%), compared to a narrower 3 point lead she carries among voters overall. In January, these women favored Biden over Trump by just 3 points (46% vs. 43%) and were evenly split on a generic congressional ballot, underscoring their status as persuadable swing voters. Now, they favor a generic Democrat by 9 points (51% vs. 42%). In addition, 96% of these women are motivated to vote in November, highlighting their pivotal role in the upcoming election.

What do women voters 50-plus say?

Methodology

The national survey was fielded online from August 27 to September 2, 2024. The final survey included interviews with 2,785 respondents, with a base sample of 2,045 voters in the likely electorate (LE) nationwide. Oversamples achieved a total (in the base sample + oversamples) of 1,353 women likely electorate voters age 50-plus, including 207 Black women voters age 50-plus and 162 Hispanic/Latina women voters age 50-plus.

For more information, contact Kate Bridges at kbridges@aarp.org. For media inquiries, contact External Relations at media@aarp.org.