Is Consumer Spending by Women Driving the Economic Recovery?

The 2007-2008 recession has hit men so much harder than women that it has even coined a new phrase:  the Mancession, according to a recent Newsweek article.

Men are the victims of two thirds of the 11 million jobs lost since the recession began, primarily because they work in industries like construction and manufacturing that were most severely impacted by the recession.  According to economists, they also will face a much more difficult road to recovery than their female counterparts.

American women already are the breadwinners or co-breadwinners in two thirds of their households, and it is predicted that by  2024, the average woman in America  will make more money than the average man.

The Nuts and Bolts of Women Consumer Spending

American women are responsible for 85 percent of all consumer purchases; they hold 93 percent of U.S. bank accounts, 51 percent of all personal wealth, and are worth more than $7 trillion in consumer spending power—more than the entire economy of Japan.  On a global level, women are the biggest emerging market in the history of the planet—more than twice the size of India and China combined. It’s a seismic change, and by all indications it will continue: of the 15  job categories expected to grow the most in the next decade, all but two are filled primarily by women.

Such a drastic shift hopefully will result in corporations sitting up and taking notice—and ensuring their products and services appeal to female consumers. Brands need to pay close attention to how they’re marketing to women, because ultimately it may be the female consumer that pulls us all out of this “mancession.”