• by Alyssa Convertini , Kellie Pean , January 6, 2026

Within the next five years, women over 50 will control more than $15 trillion in spending power, nearly two-thirds of investable wealth in the United States [1]. They already drive a third of all consumer spending, influence 95 percent of household purchases, and account for 80 percent of luxury travel decisions [2]. Yet only 3–4 percent of advertising dollars target them directly [3].

Despite the numbers, midlife women are still treated by marketers as an afterthought, framed as past their prime rather than entering their most powerful years. In reality, this cohort has survived recessions, reinvented careers, raised families, built wealth, and adapted to rapid technological change. They hold the capital, networks, and cultural authority younger generations aspire to, yet remain largely invisible in media and brand storytelling. The result is a critical blind spot: the most economically powerful generation of women in history is also the least reflected.

Many women over 50 belong to the “sandwich generation,” supporting aging parents while assisting adult children, all while maintaining careers, relationships, and personal ambitions. Their purchasing power is inherently multigenerational; they buy for three or four generations at once. They function as household CFOs, arbiters of taste, and gatekeepers of trust. According to Boston Consulting Group, women make or influence 85 percent of consumer decisions, yet feel poorly represented by brands that overwhelmingly prioritize youth [4].

Sociologist Arlie Hochschild once described the “second shift” the unpaid labor women perform after work. Today’s 50+ women manage a third shift: overseeing finances, caregiving logistics, healthcare decisions, and future planning simultaneously. Brands that meaningfully reduce this cognitive and emotional load, through streamlined technology, transparent financial tools, or trust-led luxury, stand to earn not just transactions, but lasting loyalty.

Contrary to outdated assumptions, women over 50 are not digitally disengaged. They are digital strategists. Pew Research shows internet adoption among adults over 50 has grown from 14 percent in 2000 to 96 percent today [5]. They use technology intentionally, to save time, maintain relationships, manage health, and learn. They are early adopters of efficiency tools such as telehealth, wearables, and AI assistants, and their expectations around design, privacy, and dignity will shape the next era of user experience.

McKinsey has described ageism as “the last accepted bias” in marketing [6]. But the economic and cultural math is shifting. High-net-worth women over 50 donate 125 percent more to charitable causes than their male peers [7], drive luxury fashion and travel markets, and increasingly define modern femininity on their own terms. They are not asking to be flattered or erased. They want to be reflected accurately and multidimensionally, as ambitious, sexual, intelligent, humorous, and independent.

The Opportunity for Brands

The opportunity around women 50+ is not just economic; it is emotional, experiential, and cultural.

Travel brands can reimagine autonomy through safe, intimate, and “solo but social” experiences. Financial institutions must evolve from wealth management to legacy building, offering tools for multigenerational planning and philanthropy with clarity and empathy. Technology companies should prioritize efficiency, privacy, and elegant design over novelty. Beauty, wellness, and fashion must shift from anti-aging to pro-living celebrating vitality, confidence, and self-expression rather than invisibility.

Representation is no longer optional. When women see their complexity reflected, they reward brands with trust, advocacy, and longevity. The next wave of influence will not be driven by youth alone, but by the women who hold the wealth, the wisdom, and the roadmap for what comes next.

1. McKinsey & Company, “The New Face of Wealth: The Rise of the Female Investor,” 2025. 

2. AARP, “Why Marketers Should Be Scared of Ignoring 50-Plus Women,” 2023.

3. AdAge, “Marketers’ Blind Spot: The 50+ Woman,” 2023.

4. Forbes, “20 Facts and Figures to Know When Marketing to Women,” 2019.

5. Pew Research Center, “Internet/Broadband Use Over Time,” 2024.

6. McKinsey & Company, “Ageism: The Last Accepted Bias,” 2023.

7. Mesch, D. J., Women give 2010: New research about women and giving. Women's Philanthropy Institute, Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, 2010.