What Women Want & Why It Matters

Understanding the needs and desires of the people you are marketing to is very important. And traditionally the women in our lives have an influence in a majority of the money spent by consumers.

With that in mind, a study of what women want could be very valuable. That's why I have it for you. Click on the charts to make them bigger:

Women Happy Overall, Want More Help at Home and Better Sex

Nearly all US women (94%) are satisfied with their lives and ability to balance multiple roles and responsibilities, but only half of married/partnered women are satisfied with their sex lives and the division of labor at home, according to (PDF) a Meredith Corp. and NBC Universal survey.

The “What do Women Want?” study examined women’s sentiments about relationships, family, careers and overall life satisfaction; it found key similarities and differences among Baby Boomers (born 1943-1964), Generation X (born 1965-1976), and Generation Y (born 1977-1989).

Issues related to children and education are women’s top priorities, followed by marriage and career:

Gen-Y women are more likely than older generations to place a high priority on marriage (73%) and career (67%):

Relationships:

• Four in ten women (43%) would like to change something about the relationships in their lives, with Gen-Y women (54%) seeking change the most.

• “Getting married” is more of a priority for Gen-Y women than it is for others.

• The majority of women in committed relationships are satisfied with their physical attraction to (64%) and emotional connection with (61%) their mate.
• About half of women in committed relationships are satisfied with the division of labor (49%), their opportunities to have fun with their mate (50%), their sex life (51%), the amount of quality time spent together (52%), shared interests/hobbies (53%) and communication with one another (54%).
• Three in ten married/partnered women say they would chose a good glass of wine over sex with their husband for stress relief.
• Eight in ten married/partnered women say their spouse/partner/significant other contributes to their stress; one-quarter say their mate contributes a great deal of stress.
• Some 23% of women who are no longer married say their former spouse causes them a great deal of stress; 43% say their ex contributes to at least some of their stress.
• Only two in ten married/partnered women seeking change in their relationship say they would have married someone other than their current spouse. Another 14% wish they had never gotten married.
• Boomer women are more satisfied than younger generations with their ability to nurture friendships (60% vs. 41% Gen-Y and 43% Gen-X women) and be involved as citizens and/or members of the community (53% vs. 33% Gen Y and 38% Gen-X women).

Family Life:

• Half (50%) of all women do not want to change anything about their family life, while the remaining half do.

• Two-thirds are satisfied with the amount of time they have to spend with their children/family.
• Gen Y women (62%) are more likely than Gen X (49%) and Boomer (42%) women to seek a change in their family life.

• Across all generations surveyed, having more children is the number-one desire for women who seek a change in their family life.

Motherhood:

• Two-thirds (67%) of women say “having children” and “staying home with children when they are young” are important lifestyle choices to them; 4 in 10 women (41%) say “staying home with children when they are in their teens” is important to them.
• Stay-at-home moms are more likely than working moms to place higher importance on being home with children both when they are young (92% vs. 69%) and when they are in their teens (67% vs. 41%).
• One-third (34%) of working moms with children under 18 say they would be happier if they could be stay-at-home moms versus working moms. This percentage was higher among Gen-X working moms.
• Women say that working moms are more stressed than stay-at-home moms (81% vs. 19%), and stay-at-home moms are perceived as spending more quality time with their children than working moms (85% vs. 15%).
• Women, in general, are equally split on which mom is the better role model - the working mom (51%) or the stay-at-home mom (49%); not surprisingly, mothers in these respective roles are more likely to think they are the better role model.
• Nearly 4 in 10 (38%) of mothers with children under age 18 say their children contribute a great deal of stress to their life.
• Less than 2 in 10 women (18%) say staying married, even unhappily, for the sake of the kids, is an important to them.
• More than half of women say they would prefer that their first-born was a boy (55% vs. 45% who would prefer a daughter).
• Two-thirds of working moms (66%) say they are more fulfilled with their lives than stay-at-home moms; conversely, two-thirds (64%) of stay-at-home moms say they are more fulfilled with their life lives than working moms.

Career:

• The majority of working women want to change some aspect of their jobs. Acquiring new skills to qualify for a higher-paying job is the number-one desire.
• Only 21% of working women agreed with the following statement: “I love my job and wouldn’t change anything about my current employment situation.”
• Two-thirds (66%) of working women say they are getting paid less than they deserve and a 26% of these women say it is because of their gender.

• Among those wanting change in their current employment situation, nearly half (44%) want to acquire new skills to qualify for a higher paying job, 31% want to do something more personally rewarding, 26% want to retire and 25% want to start their own business.
• 38% of Boomer women seeking change in their job would prefer to completely retire; one-third (35%) of Gen-X women would like to change/start a new career.
• Retirement is of particular interest to Boomer women, while Gen-Y women are interested in flexible hours and Gen-X women are thinking about career change.
• Gen-Y women who seek change are more likely than most women to want flexible hours (43% vs. 30% of all women).
• Many women say they have to be better communicators, smarter and more compassionate than men in order to be successful in business.

About the research: Meredith and NBC Universal commissioned Applied Research & Consulting to administer an online survey of 3,069 female respondents age 18-64, with household incomes of $20,000 and higher. The sample was weighted by age and region to conform to US Census data.

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