Move over WAGs, meet the SWAGs
Forget mid-life crisis, it’s more mid-life at the oasis for women aged 35-45 who are deemed the new SWAGs (Sassy, Wise and Grown-up). Research released today highlights it really is fabulous at forty with more than half (57%) of women of this age group feeling more confident and 57% thinking their decade is the one when you learn what life really means.
Of the 1,000 British women aged 35-45 who completed the survey, nearly six in ten (57%) admit to being wiser and more knowledgeable than ever before and over four in ten (41%) feel more prepared for what is in front of them. Seven in ten also believe this is the time of life when they are best placed to identify with those both older and younger than themselves.
The research, by John Lewis Edition, the company’s new customer magazine, found although at times stressful and demanding, this decade is one of realisation for women, with two thirds (66%) saying they have come to realise they are finally grown-ups and a high 71% declaring they’re content with their life.
In the prime of their lives
Over a quarter (27%) of those surveyed claimed at 35-45 years of age they’d finally reached the prime of their life. More than a third (37%) of SWAGs say their decade is when you have the biggest range of life experiences and it’s because they have reached many of life’s big milestones like marriage and children.
Nearly six in ten (59%) agree their experience of more ‘real life’ hardships like health worries and bereavements has made them into the person they are, whilst four in ten (39%) have had to handle larger financial responsibilities.
Favourite way to spend their time
Whilst the top way to spend their time is with their children (34%), 35-45 year old women rank spending ‘me-time’ indulging in their favourite pastimes above spending time alone with their partner.
Changes since being aged 25-35
SWAGs experience an enormous shift in self assurance and confidence in comparison to their 25-35 year old selves. By the time they are 35-45 six in ten (60%) care less about what others think of them, 59% trust their own instincts more and 92% say they’re confident enough to dress for themselves rather than for their partner, friends or colleagues.
Editor-in-chief of John Lewis Edition magazine and former Marie Claire editor, Marie O’Riordan comments, “I’m enormously encouraged by Edition’s new research delving into the attitudes and lives of 35-45 year old women. In an era obsessed with all things celebrity it’s comforting to see a breed of sassy, wise and frankly grown-up women that are ready to take on whatever life throws their way. We’ve launched John Lewis’ new customer magazine with this key audience in mind, those who want an intelligent and grown-up read with warmth and wit.”
About John Lewis Edition
John Lewis Edition is a fresh, new free customer magazine that is an insightful and entertaining read and available in all John Lewis and Waitrose shops from 3rd September 2009. Edited by former Marie Claire editor Marie O’Riordan and published by John Brown, the magazine will include a range of fashion, interiors, home technology, travel and lifestyle features as well as many hints, tips and advice. Hosts of quality, high profile writers have columns in the publication including Guardian fashion editor Jess Cartner-Morley, Esquire editor Jeremy Langmead, motoring column writer, Miranda Sawyer, as well as national columnists Zoe Williams, Fiona Gibson and Toby Young.
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