Strategy Briefing

Midlife Women: Embracing Power and Avoiding Invisibility in Global Consumer Markets

65 pages, May 2013

US$1,200

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About This Report

New Report Guarantee

If you purchase a report that is updated in the next 60 days, we will send you the new edition and data extract FREE!

This report explores the lives of midlife women. Despite their number, spending power and contribution to the labour force, many wonder why they are ignored. In mature markets midlifers are the big spending Boomers. In emerging markets they are a more diverse generation, but getting richer. As the world’s population ages, will this invisibility continue? Or is it time for midlife women to embrace their power and change the world?

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Overview

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Gain competitive intelligence about market leaders. Track key industry trends, opportunities and threats. Inform your marketing, brand, strategy and market development, sales and supply functions.

Three defined groups of midlife women

Women account for an increasing proportion of the workforce, remain the primary carers for home and family, and are responsible for the bulk of home consumption, but continue to be under-represented in positions of power in politics, business and the media.

In many parts of the world, women are further disadvantaged by having fewer rights and limited access to ownership and the means of production.

There has been progress, as education and employment are within the reach of increasing numbers of women. The prospects for many young women are positive, but looking at midlife also raises some notes of caution. The pace and depth of change has been slower and more superficial than was hoped for by the early suffragettes, or the 1960s and 1970s feminists. Economic crises have had a disproportionate impact on women and children. Will the 21st century be the time for women, and especially midlife women, to embrace their rightful power?

There are major differences between midlife women in emerging markets and those in mature markets. In mature markets, midlifers are part of the much-discussed Boomer generation, born between 1946 and 1965; a generation who have been highly influential through the course of their lives. They were the first generation who wanted to be young, they demanded to be heard when teenagers and young adults, and their spending power matched their desire for self-expression. Unwilling to let go of youth, they invented “middle youth” as a new segment who demanded to be heard. Now, with the early Boomers entering retirement, all mention of “youth” is slightly desperate. They find themselves wondering if their influence will continue. Global marketers are now less interested in ageing Boomers than they are in reaching out to Generation Y in emerging markets, and midlife women find themselves traded in for younger models.

Midlife women in emerging markets are often in a difficult situation. They have had fewer opportunities to study, work and make financial provision for themselves than women in mature markets. There has been rapid economic change in many of these economies but it tends to be younger men and women (Generation X) who have driven change and benefited most. In many countries there has been rapid internal migration and it is the grandmothers in midlife who stay in rural areas looking after their grandchildren, while parents move to the towns and cities to look for work. Midlifers may be caught in the middle; they have lost the old certainties, while most of the opportunities are going to younger generations.

The new report touches on all three groups but concentrates on middle class midlifers.

What this report includes

Top-level strategic analysis of how major consumer trends will influence global markets
Consumer insight
Impact across all relevant consumer markets
Unique graphics and case studies
Key market snapshots
Accompanying presentation to synthesise main findings

Why buy this report

Identify factors driving change now and in the future
Understand motivation
Forward-looking outlook
Briefings and presentation should provoke lively discussion at senior level
Take a step back from micro trends
Get up to date estimates and comment

Delivery format

PDF/Word
Downloadable from MyPages

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Midlife Women: Embracing Power and Avoiding Invisibility in Global Consumer Markets

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Demographics

Economics of midlife

Power, glory or influence?

Shopping, brands and marketing

Health and beauty

Technology

Country profiles

Future implications

INTRODUCTION

Where are the world’s midlife women – the demographic view

Chart 1 Midlife Women by Region 2012
Chart 2 Global Age Cohorts by Region 2012
Chart 3 Global Midlife Women as a Proportion of the Total Female Population by Region 2012
Table 1 Female Age Cohorts by Major Markets 2012

Overview of generations

Summary 1 Generational Types

Mature market Boomers

The pre global generation – emerging market midlifers

What counts as midlife these days?

Midlife crisis – a time of reappraisal

Chart 4 Healthy Life Expectancy of Women Aged 60 Years 2012

Marriage, motherhood and middle age freedom

Table 2 Motherhood and Family Size 2012
Chart 5 Average Age of Mothers at Which their Children Reach Mid Teens 2012

Sandwiched between mum and being mum

Changing lives – changing values and expectations

Chart 6 Self Image Among Midlifers 2011

Caught between possibility and reality

Who am I next?

Happiness is simple – health, financial security, family and friends

Where’s the money – the economics of midlife

Who works

Chart 7 Female Participation in the Labour Force 2012

Who earns what?

Chart 8 % Difference in Average Disposable per Capita Income of Men and Women 2012
Chart 9 Female Participation in the Labour Force vs % Male/Female Disposable Income 2012
Chart 10 Who is Working – Female Participation in the Labour Force 2012

Work and identity

Chart 11 % Agreeing With the Statement “I Would Turn Down a Promotion if it Meant Working Longer Hours”

Power, glory or influence?

Political influence

Table 3 Women’s Political Representation, 1st February 2013

Corporate power

Summary 2 The World’s Most Powerful Women 2012

The crash of machismo?

Glory and the rise of celebrity

Beauty and the beast of celebrity

Is influence enough?

Midlife crisis for marketers?

Revolutionary women

Age denial

Social media is changing trust

Summary 3 % Agreeing With the Statement “I Trust Social Media More Than TV and Print”
Summary 4 Social Media and the 45-64 Year-old Woman

When the going gets tough, the tough realise they’re empowered consumers

Still interested in new products

Chart 12 % Agreeing With the Statement “I Like to Try New Products and Services”

The changing shopper

Health and beauty

Midlife, when health becomes as important as beauty
Hi tech healthcare for all? Knit your own blood, print your own hip...
“Doc” the medibot is watching over you
Healthy living
Summary 5 Midlife Women’s Beliefs About Health
Chart 13 Consumption of Fruit and Vegetables Per Capita (kg per Annum) 2012
It is increasingly odd to be a “normal” weight
Chart 14 Middle Aged Spread – % of Women Either Obese (BMI 30+) or Overweight (BMI 25-30) 2012

Technology – the great disruptor

When devices outnumber people
Chart 15 % Household Ownership of Landlines, Mobile Phones and Broadband Enabled PCs 2012

COUNTRY PROFILES

Brazil

Chart 16 Overview of Midlife Women, Brazil
Summary 6 Digital Activity, Brazil

China

Chart 17 Overview of Midlife Women, China
Summary 7 Digital Activity, China

France

Chart 18 Overview of Midlife Women, France
Summary 8 Digital Activity, France

Germany

Chart 19 Overview of Midlife Women, Germany
Summary 9 Digital Activity, Germany

India

Chart 20 Overview of Midlife Women, India
“Eve teasing”
Summary 10 Digital Activity, India

Japan

Chart 21 Overview of Midlife Women, Japan
Summary 11 Digital Activity, Japan

UK

Table 4 % Change in UK Female Population 1980-2020
Chart 22 Overview of Midlife Women, UK
Summary 12 Digital Activity, UK

US

Chart 23 Overview of Midlife Women, US
Summary 13 Digital Activity, US

FUTURE IMPLICATIONS

An ageing world

Chart 24 Growth Rates of Age Cohorts of Women 1980-2020
Table 5 Changing Age Profiles of Women by Country 2012-2020
Table 6 GDP Growth (%) – Ranked by 2015 Growth Rate
Table 7 Women’s “Misery Index” (Ranked by 2015 Scores) 2012-2020

The next generational shift

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Megatrends

Strategy Briefing

Midlife Women: Embracing Power and Avoiding Invisibility in Global Consumer Markets

New Report Guarantee

About This Report

New Report Guarantee

Overview

Why buy this report?

Three defined groups of midlife women

What this report includes

Why buy this report

Delivery format

Want to find out more about this report?

Table of Contents

Midlife Women: Embracing Power and Avoiding Invisibility in Global Consumer Markets

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Demographics

Economics of midlife

Power, glory or influence?

Shopping, brands and marketing

Health and beauty

Technology

Country profiles

Future implications

INTRODUCTION

Where are the world’s midlife women – the demographic view

Overview of generations

Mature market Boomers

The pre global generation – emerging market midlifers

What counts as midlife these days?

Midlife crisis – a time of reappraisal

Marriage, motherhood and middle age freedom

Sandwiched between mum and being mum

Changing lives – changing values and expectations

Caught between possibility and reality

Who am I next?

Happiness is simple – health, financial security, family and friends

Where’s the money – the economics of midlife

Who works

Who earns what?

Work and identity

Power, glory or influence?

Political influence

Corporate power

The crash of machismo?

Glory and the rise of celebrity

Beauty and the beast of celebrity

Is influence enough?

Midlife crisis for marketers?

Revolutionary women

Age denial

Social media is changing trust

When the going gets tough, the tough realise they’re empowered consumers

Still interested in new products

The changing shopper

Health and beauty

Technology – the great disruptor

COUNTRY PROFILES

Brazil

China

France

Germany

India

Japan

UK

US

FUTURE IMPLICATIONS

An ageing world

The next generational shift

Why buy this report?

Want to find out more about this report?

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