Exclusive Poll: Women 50 and Older Could Decide the 2020 Election

2. Many cannot afford health care

AARP

“Politicians need to start thinking from the woman’s point of view on these key issues,” Saez says. “How are they being impacted by rising health care costs? Why is health care so important to them?”

Twenty-six percent of women polled say they skipped medical care because it was too expensive and 14 percent say they went into debt because of high health care costs. Women also believe older Americans are being taken advantage of when it comes to health costs. Nearly 7 in 10 feel older people pay too much for health care compared to others, and 85 percent say people with preexisting conditions should not have to pay more for their health care coverage.

3. Women 50+ most value ethics and trust in their leaders

AARP

“The whole question of values is increasingly important to voters,” says LeaMond. “People want to be represented by people they can trust and people who they believe are operating in their interests, and that’s apparent in this data.” This is particularly important to women, LeaMond says, “particularly as they have all this economic anxiety. And that economic anxiety drives a whole set of questions about which candidate is really delivering for me, not just saying something, but doing something.”

In addition to women looking for elected officials who are ethical, trustworthy and intelligent, 45 percent of those polled say they would prefer an experienced candidate in 2020 over one who brings a fresh perspective (32 percent) to the nation’s issues.

4. Almost half say elected leaders are failing on health care

AARP

“Over and over we’re seeing a lot of conflict in elected leaders’ ability to address this issue,” says Saez. Women have such a high standard in terms of expectations of change, and there has been little movement on the cost of health care and prescription drugs.” Women, she says, “haven’t seen change in their households.”

Overall, a majority of women (56 percent) 50 and over report an unfavorable opinion of national elected leaders, including the president and members of Congress from both parties. Thirty-six percent also give them failing grades in handling the opioid epidemic, 34 percent on handling prices rising faster than income and 32 percent on the affordability of college and student debt.

5. Nearly half of 50+ women also think the economy is on the wrong track

AARP

The poll shows that 50-plus women are not optimistic about their personal economic prospects. Of those surveyed, only 24 percent expect their personal financial situation to improve in the next 12 months versus 38 percent of men. This lack of confidence in the economy is also dragging down women’s prospects for retirement. While 62 percent of men over age 50 polled are confident they will live comfortably in retirement, only 47 percent of woman have that same belief.

 “Women are more economically challenged,” says LeaMond. “They are typically more often in lower wage jobs. They’ve taken time out of the workforce either for child rearing or caregiving. And they are more concerned about age discrimination in the workplace. All of those things drive them to be very concerned about the economy’s impact on them.”

6. They’re down on drug companies

AARP

AARP research has found that older adults take between four and five medications each day and that many have to decide between taking their drugs as prescribed and affording such daily necessities as food and lodging. In this poll, 13 percent of women 50 and over report rationing their medications because of the cost.

That 65 percent of women have an unfavorable opinion on pharmaceutical companies “says to me that health care costs are top of mind and that women as the family navigators of the health care system know where those high costs are,” says LeaMond. For the past year, AARP has waged a Stop RxGreed campaign, designed to convince state and federal lawmakers to enact measures to lower the cost of prescription drugs for older Americans and all consumers.

7. Women 50+ are the chief health care officers of their families

AARP

“Women are the deciders and the CEO of the household,” says LeaMond. “They are making most of the economic decisions and most of the health care decisions.” Of those women polled, 57 percent of women say they prioritize the health of their family over their own and 58 percent report being the sole health care decision-maker in their household.