Skip to content

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
      • Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito argued abortion isn’t an economic issue. But is that true?

        Chabeli Carrazana · May 4
      • Pregnant people are at 'greater risk' in states hit hard by wildfire smoke, air pollution, new report shows

        Jessica Kutz · April 20
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s swearing in makes history during unprecedented time for the Supreme Court

        Candice Norwood · June 30
      • Biden’s new environmental justice office aims to tackle the health impacts disproportionately faced by people of color

        Jessica Kutz · June 2
      • Jessica Cisneros takes on the last anti-abortion U.S. House Democrat

        Amanda Becker · February 25
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: How pregnant people can prepare for a summer of heat waves

        Jessica Kutz · June 17
      • The 19th Explains: How new Title IX guidelines on sexual misconduct may give more help to survivors

        Nadra Nittle · June 14
      • The 19th Explains: How would overturning Roe v. Wade affect IVF?

        Jennifer Gerson · May 27
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • 'I'm planning on working until the day I die': Older women voters are worried about the future

        Mariel Padilla · June 3
      • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

        Jessica Kutz · May 31
      • Woman alleges that an assisted living facility denied her admission because she is transgender

        Sara Luterman · November 8
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Florida’s redistricting fight continues. The head of the state League of Women Voters talks about what’s at stake.

        Barbara Rodriguez · April 19
      • Women have been sounding the alarm ahead of Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 28
      • LGBTQ+ people of color are at risk from rising voter restrictions as federal protections falter in the Senate, advocates say

        Orion Rummler · January 19

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Elections 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

Support The 19th

As a nonprofit newsroom, members are critical to our sustainability. Your financial support helps make our journalism possible.

Become a Member

Donate to support our mission

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

A pensive older woman looking out a window.
(Lisa Schaetzle/Getty Images)

Elections 2022

‘I’m planning on working until the day I die’: Older women voters are worried about the future

Following a recent poll that found that older women are deeply unhappy, AARP conducted focus groups with dozens of women to better understand their concerns ahead of the midterms.

Mariel Padilla

General Assignment Reporter

Mariel Padilla portrait

Published

2022-06-03 12:13
12:13
June 3, 2022
pm

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Devastated, worried, disappointed, disgusted, frightened, discouraged and — most of all — unseen. That’s how more than 50 women over the age of 50 responded when asked how they felt about the way things were going in the country. 

Last week, AARP convened six focus groups, separated into White Republicans, White Democrats, undecided voters, Latinas, Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) and Black women, all over 50. The 19th reviewed the virtual 90-minute focus groups, which were conducted between May 23 and 25. Participants were not identified by their full names and were guaranteed anonymity, according to AARP’s guidelines. 

The focus groups were convened as a follow-up to a March survey that found these older women are not happy, dissatisfied by the state of the economy and frustrated with their elected officials. Independent moderators asked each of the groups about how they feel about the state of the world, their personal lives and the lives of their children and grandchildren. The women also discussed what issues are most important to them ahead of the midterms, what they want from their elected leaders and other concerns specific to their demographic and voting bloc. 

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Women over 50 constitute a key voting bloc in the upcoming midterm elections: They account for more than 1 out of every 4 registered voters, exhibit high turnout rates and cast nearly a third of all ballots in recent elections.  Yet, according to the survey, only 17 percent said they had made up their minds on who they were voting for in November. 

And for the majority of them, character counts: Many of the focus group participants said they’d look more at the character of candidates instead of the platform and policies. Civility, integrity, morality and personal responsibility were most important to them. 

“It’s just so frustrating that politicians can’t seem to work together,” an AAPI woman in New York said. “They’re so opposed to each other that nothing really gets accomplished, and I feel like, at this point, there’s never going to be any resolution or major changes that are going to be made to help the people of the country. And that’s why I’m angry.” 

  • More from The 19th
    A woman checks into a polling station.
  • Older women voters may play a big role in the 2022 midterms, and they are not happy
  • Why retiring from politics is more complicated for women
  • Most of the COVID-19 workforce were women of color. What happens now as those jobs end?

The vast majority of these older women agreed that inflation is making it increasingly harder to get by, dwindling Social Security funds are threatening their retirement prospects, health care costs are often unmanageable, crime is a major concern and, by and large, they feel “invisible.” 

One woman, a White undecided voter who said she lives alone with three cats, said she is scared, lonely and not sure how things will work out. Her longtime partner died in March 2020, just before the pandemic shuttered businesses and forced everyone indoors. 

“Then the world went to hell and nobody touched me for over a year,” she said. “There was nobody here. I live in the house that we lived in and his family took all of his money. We went from getting over $200,000 a year to just $12,000 a year. I don’t have that support system anymore, the person I did everything with, and there’s no way to rebuild it. … I’m trying to figure out how to make a life again.” 

Money — the rise in inflation and the decreasing affordability of daily life — was top of mind for many of the women.

A White undecided woman on food stamps said she is not able to get as much food at the grocery store as she did even two months ago. An AAPI woman said she had to stop using her car as much because of the skyrocketing gas prices. And a third, a Black woman with a disability, said that on top of food and gas prices, a new landlord is evicting her from a house she lived in with her mother for 15 years after raising the rent by more than double what she had been paying.

“If this inflation keeps going the way it’s going, I’m planning on working until the day I die,” said a nurse in California who is selling her house to find more affordable housing. “They’ll be prying my fingers off the keyboard.” 

Women in each focus group brought up inaccessible or unaffordable health care, overwhelming caregiving responsibilities, spikes in crime, and the depressing reality of long-term climate change when asked about future generations. And when asked whether they felt elected officials listen to women over 50, nearly every participant responded with an immediate and resounding “no.” 

Many women in the Latina group said they felt particularly unheard. One 50-year-old woman said that she has lived in New York, Pennsylvania and Florida and reached out to local politicians and state representatives for help but to no avail. She did not elaborate on the specifics of her requests, but spoke more broadly about receiving Social Security and disability benefits, undergoing three failed back surgeries and struggling to afford the medical costs associated with a recent cancer diagnosis. Another participant said she felt triply ignored and readily dismissed as a Hispanic woman of a certain age. A third from Arizona said: “There are so many Hispanics here yet we don’t really have a say because our politicians for the most part are not Hispanic, and they’re playing to their base. I don’t know if we’re not speaking loud enough, but they’re not listening to us.” 

The sentiment was echoed in other focus groups, including by a 60-year-old in Virginia who identified as an undecided voter who felt ignored by politicians: “I always say, ‘What are you doing for me?’ I’m not a parent. I don’t have children in school. They can’t answer it, and they never do. I ask for more opportunities and they look the other way and kind of just say they’re not going to deal with that.” 

Several others also brought up age discrimination in the workplace — an acute pain point for many as living costs rise, savings dwindle and expectations for careers get extended. One stay-at-home mother said she’s about to be an empty nester and hopes to reenter the workforce after being unemployed for about two decades. But at her age, she said, she knows she’ll have to scramble for a job, and “many of my friends and neighbors are in the same boat.” 

“Once you reach 50, you disappear from the corporate world,” a Latina artist and mother in Texas said. “No one will hire you. It’s hard to find a job. … Everybody says they’ll interview you, but they’re always going to choose somebody younger. That’s the reality.” 

Another participant, a licensed clinical counselor who works in a school, said women her age are “too old for certain jobs, but too young to retire.” 

The women spoke about a world that seems to cater to only young people and young families — from politicians to advertisers to employers to strangers on the street. 

“I’ve been feeling invisible recently,” said one undecided voter who lives in Colorado with her adult granddaughter and two cats. “I just turned 60, and I feel like when I go out people don’t see me. It’s kind of freaky, and I don’t really know what to do with it but it happens.” 

The feeling of being overlooked was expressed across the board, but the focus group participants were more split when it came to their feelings about their children’s lives and those of the next generation. The majority of the Latinas and Black women said they were worried but more excited, optimistic and encouraged by the children in their lives. Many saw opportunities and the possibility of economic mobility for their children that they were not able to access themselves. Most of the White women, from across the poiltical spectrum, and AAPI women, however, voiced worry, stress and fear. 

One White woman, an undecided voter, said that when she looked to the future she saw climate change disasters, pandemic-induced isolation among students and never-ending work. Single and living alone, she said she felt stuck and without choices. Recently, she had to decline a Zoom call with her 18-month-old granddaughter because she couldn’t afford to take a break from working: 

“I’m never going to be able to retire because I can’t save anything. My grocery bill has doubled. I work from home, so I don’t have a gas bill, but everything is skyrocketing to the point where I can’t be the grandma I want to be,” she said. “I can’t miss $20 of work money to Zoom with her, and it’s really sad. I hung up from the phone, and I just wanted to cry.” 

Another woman was forced to scrap retirement plans in the last six months and get a new job. “How long do I have to work before I can retire?” she asked. “I’ve been waiting my whole life to live without an obligation, and I’m just feeling like it might not even be there in the end.” 

Everybody is exhausted, another White undecided voter agreed. She helped take care of her grandmother when she was aging, and her own daughter recently moved to her neighborhood so she could care for her mother in the same way. But, not everyone has that same kind of support and something needs to be done.  

“If we are all spent and have no energy,” she said, “then how are we supposed to take care of our elderly?”

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Support The 19th

As a nonprofit newsroom, members are critical to our sustainability. Your financial support helps make our journalism possible.

Become a Member

Donate to support our mission

From the Collection

The Impact of Aging

A number of older people walking down a path of information.
  • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

    Jessica Kutz · May 31
  • Woman alleges that an assisted living facility denied her admission because she is transgender

    Sara Luterman · November 8
  • LGBTQ+ seniors fear having to go back in closet for the care they need

    Sara Luterman · October 12

Up Next

Elections 2022

How Stacey Abrams became a fundraising juggernaut

She’s again the Democratic nominee for governor in Georgia, with an appeal and donor base turbocharged by her voting rights advocacy and role in helping transform the state’s electorate.

Read the Story

Stacey Abrams speaks from a podium during a campaign rally.

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Subscribe to the Newsletter
  • Attend an Event
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram