Research reveals top aging concerns for women

How are women today approaching aging? According to a new survey, almost half of women (47%) express that aging causes them stress.

A survey of 2,000 American women split evenly by generation revealed that Gen Z (56%) and millennials (57%) are more stressed about getting older than Gen X (46%) and baby boomers (31%).

In fact, both millennials (38%) and Gen Z (40%) lead the charge with feeling older than their age. Further, 18% of Gen Z believe that they appear older, more than any other generation.

Still, more than three-quarters (76%) say they are trying to embrace aging with grace.

Conducted by Talker Research on behalf of NEOSTRATA, results revealed that over half of women (54%) are concerned others will notice signs of them aging.

Further, almost half of women noticed the first signs of aging skin by the age of 40. Fine lines on their face (44%) and forehead wrinkles (32%) were two signs that women noticed most often, along with age spots (32%) and creases or lines in their neck (15%)

To help combat aging skin and avoid these signs from appearing, 70% of women surveyed take their skincare routines seriously and 64% use between one and four different products on any given day.

For most (81%), those products target the whole face, but when asked if they use products that target areas beyond the face or products that address specific concerns, such as the neck, eyes or arms, less than 40% of women confirmed they were using these types of skincare products.

In fact, only 17% of women say they pay significant attention to caring for their neck, with less than one-third of women (29%) using a skincare product on their neck on a daily basis.

“Taking care of my skin helps me to feel confident and good about myself. I was surprised to hear about how many women are still neglecting their neck." said Jenna Dewan, actress, dancer and NEOSTRATA spokesperson. “I was lucky my mom always told me to extend my facial skincare down to my neck, but it seems many women still don’t realize that the neck is often one of the first places to show signs of aging. It’s so important to incorporate skincare products that target your neck to prevent fine lines and wrinkles.”

Further, only 32% of women are confident they know how to properly care for their neck to prevent signs of aging.

Almost three in five (58%) say they take steps to avoid behaviors or habits that are bad for their skin. But still, women more so attribute aging to factors such as stress levels (55%), bad habits, such as smoking or lack of sleep (39%) or lack of using sunscreen (33%).

Surprisingly, less than one in 10 (7%) blame technology and only 25% are aware of the concept of “tech neck.”

“’Tech neck’ refers to wrinkles that can appear across the neck due to the position of the head and face when looking down at a laptop or phone for long periods of time,” said dermatologist and NEOSTRATA partner Dr. Alexis Stephens. “With technology playing an integral part in our everyday lives, it’s important to modernize skincare routines and introduce products, such as a neck cream, to target the fine lines and wrinkles that can be caused by ‘tech neck.’ The skin on our neck and decolletage area is very sensitive and will inevitably be the first to give away our age. Time spent on preventing these key signs of aging will help women to feel and look their age in the long-term.”

Survey Methodology:
Talker Research surveyed 2,000 American women split evenly by generation (500 Gen Z, 500 millennials, 500 Gen X and 500 baby boomers); the survey was commissioned by NEOSTRATA and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between July 22 and July 29, 2024. Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.