Women Believe Economy is Top Issue in 2008 Election

GLENDALE, Calif. - February 1, 2008 - AARP, which is marking its 50th Anniversary, and iVillage, the first and largest community of women online, today hosted hundreds of engaged, diverse women for the groundbreaking "How She Will Decide" forum, taking place just four days before Super Tuesday and providing a real-time pulse check of the issues that will most affect this year's presidential race.

Overwhelmingly, participants at the forum feel economic issues are the most important factor guiding their decision on which candidate to support on Election Day - with 54 percent of the audience members reporting that they do not have a 401(k) or similar retirement savings account. This underscores the findings of an iVillage fielded Roper poll conducted last week, which found that over half of surveyed women cite "having enough money to live on" as their biggest concern when thinking about financial security later in life.

Other issues that prove top-of-mind with women include healthcare (10 percent), the Iraq war (15 percent) and national/homeland security (12 percent).

"Female voters are becoming increasingly important in the electoral process in the United States," Nancy LeaMond, AARP Group Executive Officer and Director of the Divided We Fail initiative. "With an election that is already making history in terms of gender, the candidates are focusing on the issues women maintain are most important. This poll shows that women are worried about their financial security above a host of other issues."