New Global Stats on Women's Wants, Needs and Roles

Two years ago I wrote a little paper on Purses, Peers, Posts and the Power to Move Green Markets. Download Purses Peers Posts and the Power to Move Green Markets

o By 2028, women will control nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of consumer spending worldwide.

The writing was on the wall in lipstick; it was only a matter of time before research would back up common sense:

1. Women buy all the stuff
2. The global economy is anchored in consumer goods
3. The purchasers of these goods will be filtering them based on their needs
4. Women and business working together will co-create the next economy.

All that is happening right now without any direction from business. All companies can do is follow the money and the feminine culture. As Martha Stewart would say, "It's a good thing..." 

Today, one of my progressive guy pals, (thanks Mark) sent along new findings on the women's market from the Boston Consulting Group. They reinforce what the market has believed for the last seven or so years and have added new insights into just how global this impact will be. 

Read the full story here and paste the press release on your wall. You're going to see these numbers showing up everywhere as they become the new defacto facts for marketing to women.

The survey covered 12,000 women worldwide. We are making more money, but still doing the majority of the work at home as well. Sighhhhh

o Between 2002 and 2007, women's income (globally) increased by nearly $3 trillion to $9.8 trillion. By 2014, women's income will jump by $5 trillion to $15.6 trillion.
o In the U.S. and E.U., most college students (57 percent and 55 percent, respectively) are women. Worldwide, almost half (49 percent) of college students are women.
o Women own or co-own 40 percent of U.S. businesses. Solely women-owned businesses are growing at twice the rate of all U.S. firms (and faster than male-owned businesses).
o Most important, globally, women control nearly $12 trillion of the overall $18.4 trillion in consumer spending. By 2014, women will control $15 trillion.
o In the top 20 markets, women control $10 trillion of $15.3 trillion in consumer spending.
o By 2028, women will control nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of consumer spending worldwide.

Below, the "women influence over 80% of consumer goods" from the prior research, still holds true.

o 88 percent say they have responsibility for grocery shopping.
o 85 percent have responsibility for meal preparation.
o 84 percent have responsibility for laundry.
o 84 percent have responsibility for cleaning.
o And 77 percent have responsibility for household administration

Ironically, shopping doesn't make us the happiest - owning a pet does! Expect to see a huge upswing in ads with women and pets in them. The Humane Society should be very happy.

o The values most important to women are: love (77 percent); health (58 percent); honesty (51 percent) and emotional well-being (48 percent).
o The things that make women extremely happy are: pets (42 percent); sex (27 percent) and food (19 percent). Only 5 percent cited shopping, and only 2 percent cited the economy.

My sincere thanks to the Boston Consulting Group for pulling these new, global stats together. It proves that the gender is mightier than the culture that it lives in, and that the next global culture will definitely have a woman's touch. 

Comments

[sheila walsh]

I really can't believe nobody has commented on this. This is awesome!! I just stumbled upon your blog this evening and found this post most interesting. I have three children, the oldest being 7, and when I stopped being a h.s. teacher to stay home with him. I realized that it is women who spend the money and make the decisions. We buy more than our mothers, grandmothers, etc... Women have so much untapped economic power. I just started to blog, and have been doing more blog reading. And there are so many similarities in what we are saying. They need to listen: REAL FOOD, $$ IN EDUCATION (i live in CA) , HEALTHCARE REFORM, GREEN REFORM. Is it b/c we are so busy raising our kids...

[Mary]

thanks for you comments Sheila, and welcome to the world of blogging. The other reason no one has taken it seriously is exactly for the reason you cite, women are WORKING at home and have precious little bandwidth for changing the world through traditional methods, But the power of the purse is working. Wal Mart isn't going green because it's the right thing to do (well partially) they are going green because it paints them as good guys that women will appreciate and continue to support.