Why doesn’t the economy care about older women?
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 7 September 2020
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Many women feel they are ignored by the larger economy after they reach a certain age, and some of them aren't willing to accept that.
Tamasin Ford speaks to Bonnie Marcus, host of the Badass Women at Any Age podcast, who explains how women over 60 can deal with the double-whammy of sexism and ageism in business. Meanwhile, Tricia Cusden tells us about how she started up the cosmetics retailer Look Fabulous Forever - a business run by and for women in their older years. And Ruth Saunders, author of Female Entrepreneurs: The Secrets of Their Success, explains why the larger business community would be smart to think more about older women in the economy.
Producer: Frey Lindsay
(Picture: Older woman looking fabulous; Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm Tamison Ford. Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC. As people are living longer, |
| 0:08.3 | the number of people over 65 globally is expected to triple in the next 30 years. But as the |
| 0:15.1 | workforce gets older, ageism is also becoming more of an issue, and it's women who are bearing the brunt of it. |
| 0:23.0 | It's maddening. |
| 0:25.3 | As soon as women show any visible signs of aging, they are viewed as not only less attractive, but less competent. |
| 0:36.9 | We take a look at the older women who are bucking the trend. |
| 0:40.7 | I'm 72. I'm working as hard as I've ever worked. |
| 0:44.2 | In fact, my age is the biggest benefit that I've got. |
| 0:47.7 | It's my biggest asset, you know. |
| 0:50.2 | That's all in Business Daily from the BBC. |
| 0:55.7 | Men hold the majority of positions in power around the world, |
| 0:59.8 | whether it's as a head of state or the boss of an organisation. |
| 1:04.0 | In fact, women make up 7% of Fortune 500 companies' CEOs |
| 1:09.5 | and just 5% of the UK's Futsi 100 CEOs. |
| 1:15.7 | It's 2020. |
| 1:17.9 | So why are older women still not represented at the top? |
| 1:22.5 | If you look old, especially as a woman, you don't have any value anymore. You don't deserve respect. It's because |
| 1:31.5 | there's so much weight on how we look, whether or not we're attractive. Bonnie Marcus hosts a podcast |
| 1:40.3 | called Bad A's Women at Any Age. She also founded Bonnie Marcus leadership in Santa Barbara |
| 1:46.4 | in the US. She coaches women on how to advance their careers and says as they get older, |
| 1:52.8 | they face the double whammy of sexism and ageism. It's maddening. Our society worships youth and beauty. What happens, I believe, is that as soon as |
| 2:08.5 | women show any visible signs of aging, they are viewed as not only less attractive, but less competent. And unfortunately, society doesn't think |
... |
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