Female Boomers: Life Gets Better After the Wrinkle-free 20s.

A new study debunks the stereotype that women are happiest in their wrinkle-free twenties and shows that female boomers believe life actually gets better as they get older. The national study conducted by Frank About Women shows that women’s overall wellness-and particularly their happiness-steadily grows after age 49 and reaches its zenith when women are in their 70s.

Forty-two percent of women in their 20s are “extremely” or “very satisfied” with their overall wellness, holding at 41 percent and 40 percent for women in their 30s and 40s, respectively. That percentage jumps as women age, reaching 46 percent for women in their 50s, 50 percent for women in their 60s, and an impressive 66 percent for women in their 70s.

“When you’re in your 20s, 30s — and even 40s — it’s common for women to put their lives under a microscope and feel like they’re not living up to their full potential in terms of work, home and family,” said Carrie McCament, senior director, Frank About Women. “By the time she reaches her 50s, she’s really hit her stride. She is happy; she is confident; and she is financially astute. Marketers who tap into her psyche will be rewarded for appealing to her strength,” she concluded.

“This is the year to celebrate the cache of the woman beyond her 30s. This group has emerged through a lifelong process of self-discovery, seemingly knows what’s important and doesn’t sweat the small stuff.” McCament points to celebrated pop culture icons — from the likes of Madonna, Oprah, Cindy Crawford, Susan Sarandon, Annette Benning, Lauren Hutton, and Jaime Lee Curtis, as well as the popular appeal of the hit TV series, Desperate Housewives — as evidence of this changing mindset.

The same trend holds true for women’s growing satisfaction with family relationships as they age. Women rank family relationships as very important throughout life. Their satisfaction with family relationships is high at 75 percent during their 30s, satisfaction declines to 63 percent for women in their 40s, and rebounds in their 50s-jumping to 72 percent, 74 percent, and 83 percent over their 50s, 60s and 70s.

The national study, Aging Redefined II: A Frank Perspective on Marketing to Women as They Age, focuses on women over the age of 50 and debunks age-old myths about women and aging. It was conducted by Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Frank About Women. The online study, weighted to be nationally representative, was conducted in November 2004 and was based on 1,155
responses from women ages 20 to 97.

For more information at http://www.frankaboutwomen.com