The $850 Billion Mistake Companies Keep Making with Women Over 50
Ageism is real. The articles are accurate. A Catalyst report documented that almost 500,000 women left the workforce just in the first half of 2025, with 42% of those departures resulting from layoffs. There are numerous anecdotal and data-driven reports of women in their fifties and beyond being marginalized or seen as too expensive, too close to retirement, or unhirable.
All of this is real and in no way should be diminished. And that is the point of this article. Let’s talk about why that is, where the truth sits, and the larger economic problem of ignoring this seasoned, experienced, tough yet empathetic, collaborative collective of powerful leaders at every level and in every industry.
The Data on Women 50+
There is an economic cost to age discrimination, to the tune of $850 billion, impacting GDP. When women lose economic power, they spend less. That may not seem like an aha statement, but women are responsible for 80% of healthcare spending, as well as 85% of all consumer purchasing decisions. When income disappears, families cut more than discretionary purchases. A recent CNBC article documents how long-term unemployed households reduce grocery spending, medical spending, investment in retirement planning, and leisure activities. Lost income results in financial decisions based on need and pulling back on spending for anything considered extra which impacts families and communities.
Women live longer and healthier into old age. While women spend 9 more years in disability during their work lifetime due to missed diagnoses, misdiagnosis, and treating women as biologically secondary to men, rather than as a powerful second economic market, women live longer after retirement and are often more active. This is more time without income to support healthy aging, increasing the risk of disease and burden on, and cost to, the healthcare system. Deloitte’s 2024 survey found that 50% of women, compared with 37% of men, had skipped or delayed healthcare during the previous year. There are many factors contributing, but affordability is one of the top three factors.
There is a long-term retirement security impact. Older women who cannot find adequately paid work can face financial pressure to claim Social Security retirement benefits earlier than planned, once eligible. During the Great Recession eligible women claiming benefits at 62 rose from 36% in 2007 to 39% in 2009 according to the Social Security Administration. Unemployment was not defined as the cause for every early claim, but the connection illustrates how economic challenges can coincide with earlier reliance on retirement income. Claiming at 62 versus 67 years reduces the monthly benefit by 30% which shifts a late-career income challenge into a long-term reduction in retirement security. This could be an entirely separate article, but the implications extend beyond an individual paycheck. Losing income late in life can compromise financial independence for the rest of retirement, for women and those who depend on them.
The Growth Opportunity
Women over 50 are becoming the fastest growing and most powerful founders. Experienced women have often reached financial success or stability when they are laid off, encouraged to leave, or forced to choose between caregiving and work. Perhaps not coincidentally, startup success rates increase with age because women have experience, networks, collaborative approaches, financial stewardship, and a strong BS meter. Women starting businesses later in life are often seeking a fulfilling next step in their career where they can use their expertise to make a difference, address a gap, and bring opportunities to following generations. Sidelining, overlooking, or ignoring these powerhouse businesses comes at a cost to investors and the industries these founders support.
Full-time salaried roles are often not the goal. Many women who have achieved age and wisdom are seeking financial stability and creative growth. Frequently, they are seeking flexibility and creativity over a full-time, salaried, 40+ hour-a-week position, either due to caregiving responsibilities, corporate fatigue, or desire to pursue more inspired ventures. As a result, older women often choose fractional, part-time, and flexible full-time pursuits. For companies seeking expertise, the issue is never about affordability. There are plenty of men over 50 years old in positions of leadership with significant salaries, not to mention making $1 for every $0.82 a woman makes. The problem isn’t money, it is choice. When hiring teams engage in innovative thinking, the flexibility that women over 50 bring to the market becomes a two-way investment. Women who choose a flexible career path bring value to a company where a 40-hour-a-week position is not required; the engagement is full time but short term; or the work is episodic over the course of a year.
Women are natural collaborators. The rapid growth of women-supporting-women networks is an example of the drive to find support and pay it forward. Women who have achieved success often seek opportunities to collaborate with their peers and share their experience with other women rising in the industry. Women’s networks did not evolve to be women-only clubs; they evolved because there were many formal and informal ‘women not allowed’ clubs. And this adds to the value of women over 50 being given the opportunity to continue their leadership and contribution. These networks prioritize a pay-it-forward approach because women who have achieved career success know it takes support, mentorship, opening doors, and guidance for those who follow. When women remain in the workforce and continue to provide this guidance, it raises the potential for all levels of growth throughout the industry.
The Learning Gap
The mentorship gap is a generational risk. When we consider what is being lost by not hiring women over 50 either in part time, fractional, or full-time roles, it is not just an impact on those who are unemployed. The mentorship gap is the most profound risk faced by Millennials and Gen Z. When Gen X was left to navigate childhood and young adulthood unsupervised, we sought friends and neighbors to support us, help to solve problems, and figure out complicated situations. Many Millennials and Gen Z have faced a similar ‘survive on your own’ experience, while under the supervision of parents, teachers, and employers. The drain on time and attention, access to media, and economic strain often left these generations supervised but without guidance to navigate new experiences and environments, truncating the opportunity to learn survival skills.
Training and mentorship programs are not just a check box. During these critical periods, meaningful connections are made which impact growth and experience. Whether in colleges, trade schools, work environments, or apprenticeship programs effort is required to teach not just the specific skills, but to engage in effective problem solving, conflict resolution, and taking initiative. Many training programs used to be built on a learning theory from surgical education, ‘see one, do one, teach one’. This provided the time and attention to master a skill before expecting to work independently. These opportunities ranged anywhere from 90 days to a year of training an employee before being considered ready to stand on their own. Too often the model now is ‘watch a training video, ask questions, and hope for the best’.
We can blame remote work, but the reality is prioritization. Training takes time, communication, connection, and committed resources. Whether in person, hybrid, or remote, formal and informal mentorship or training is an investment in the person, the team, and the company. Much training can be done remotely, with well-timed and valuable in-person interactions. There is no mentoring benefit to putting people in cubicles or offices next to each other, or worse, in different cities, where interpersonal hands-on training does not occur. As well, training is a company culture issue more than an individual manager or employee issue. When employees are driven to produce, training is often sacrificed. The result is a cost to both current employees expected to train, and the new hires who are expected to learn. Frustrations build on both sides, and when mistakes occur, the focus is not on how to teach and improve, but on who is to blame. Employees who are untrained cost money and time, often through little fault of their own. When training and mentoring is an investment, companies have greater success. A factor often cited for why women-led companies are successful is the understanding that a collaborative, mentor-driven environment can raise all skills, build community, and establish networks. Those networks last far beyond the walls of a company.
The Economic Consequences and Opportunities
Many issues including healthcare, women’s health, or ageism, should focus on the value of improving outcomes, such as creating equity in health, establishing women as a true second health market, or balancing the workforce with women over 50. But as I write about for all these issues: it comes down to money. While we should value the expertise, collaboration, and experience of women who have had successful careers, there is a significant economic incentive to do so.
Retain expertise and build the next generation. When women are laid off, encouraged to leave, pressured to choose family over work, or organized out, the economy bears the costs. One clear example is that companies lose the often-informal training and mentoring approaches that are more common in women-led teams. As a result, learning takes longer, mistakes are costly, and replacement costs are higher. The blame may be placed on the generations who are entering the workforce, but the reality is that those generations gain value from an environment that is willing to properly train them. They are often willing to work hard and grow with a company but don’t feel valued, heard, or properly prepared.
Instead of removing women from these roles, companies can retain and recruit experienced women -- perhaps in more creative roles even when staffing changes are necessary -- to recognize mentoring as a valued part of leadership and provide time and compensation to train others. Pairing experienced leaders with emerging talent creates a practical opportunity to strengthen skills, transfer knowledge, and prepare future leaders.
Protect earning power and respond to changing needs. When women leave the workforce, the economic burden is also evidenced in changed spending habits, tighter family budgets, fewer consumer purchases, and revised health spending. Remembering that the majority of purchasing decisions are driven by women, the downstream effects can be profound -- particularly in markets that serve aging, health, wellness, and mid-level luxury.
Employers have an opportunity to consider flexible roles, advancement opportunities, and growth pathways that help women sustain their income -- even if it looks different from the standard 40+ hour salaried role. Before proceeding with a typical layoff, consider having a conversation about alternative ways to provide expertise, which can lead to better outcomes for companies and their employees. Businesses serving aging, health, wellness, and luxury markets can also engage women directly because they are in the best position to understand the market, how to market, and what products and services would earn their spending dollars.
Turn support into capital, contracts, and growth. Women’s representation in business is connected to measurable economic growth. McKinsey’s 2023 analysis demonstrated that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity were 39 percent more likely to outperform their peers. This also represented continued growth over the prior decade. Companies with at least one female founder performed 63% better than companies with all-male founding teams. Yet, when women-founded or led businesses lack investment, or women leave positions throughout a company and their expertise is not replaced, there are opportunity costs: businesses that are never built, innovations that never reach the market, and companies that cannot scale or hire. The economic activity at stake is substantial. Wells Fargo’s 2026 report estimates that US women-owned businesses employ 12.6 million people and generate $2.8 trillion in revenue. Supporting their growth creates opportunities that extend beyond individual founders to employees, customers, suppliers, and communities.
Investors, corporate buyers, and business leaders can fund women-founded companies, include them in procurement opportunities, and connect them with customers and strategic partners. A paid pilot, supplier contract, or growth investment can help a company validate its offering, generate revenue, and build the capacity to hire. While large investments are critical to this market growth, even smaller, well timed, and stepped investments can support sustainability, versus no funding at all.
There is significant value in bringing women over 50 into companies to share their expertise, lead with collaboration, mentor employees, drive revenue, build networks, and scale. Decades of experience can strengthen judgment, deepen industry relationships, and help others move from ideas to execution. A US Census data supported study found that a 50-year-old founder was 1.8 times more likely than a 30-year-old founder to build one of the highest-growth companies. It is important to recognize that the 50-year-old founder is also well-positioned to help the 30-year-old founder navigate pitfalls, which can raise value at both ends of the entrepreneurial spectrum.
Suggesting that women over 50 belong in the workforce is not a wish. Women-supporting-women networks already bring together accomplished leaders who are building businesses and creating opportunities for those coming up behind them. The Women Presidents Organization’s 2026 list of the 50 fastest-growing women-owned or led companies provides a concrete example: those businesses generated more than $8.5 billion in revenue and employed more than 23,000 people in 2025. KNOW Women supports a network of over 20,000 high performing women who are shaping, and re-shaping industries. These figures are just a couple of examples which demonstrate the scale of women-led business achievement. In these and many other examples, the high-achieving and high performing women leaders are opening doors for their younger counterparts.
Women over 50 are far from finished. Bringing experienced women into leadership, advisory, and mentoring roles carries expertise forward, establishes stronger companies, leads to more hiring opportunities, and supports the next generation of leaders.
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