Women have shaped 2023 in ways that have been very different to what occurred last year, when Dictionary.com listed ‘woman’ as their word of 2022 for being “inseparable from the story” of the year.
A year ago, the focus was more on women as political activists and game changers. But the past twelve months have seen the power of women elevated to new levels.
2023 has been the year of women shifting the entire economies of cities, industries and countries, pushing the still largely male-dominated leadership structures across business and politics to pay close attention.
The economic force of women in 2023 was proven in the power of individual and small groups of women to shift cultural, business and sporting conversations, as well as from women and girls as consumers when given products, services and activities they actually want to buy and be a part of.
You know some of the obvious examples of those driving these shifts, we’ve talked about them all year. But it helps to bring them together.
Taylor Swift, named TIME Person of the Year, doesn’t just bring “joy” to people, as the magazine’s editors highlighted in their selection. She also demonstrates the economic power of women and girls who want to come together to experience that joy.
Swift is now extremely rich for her efforts. Some watchers estimate she achieved $4.1 billion in earnings from the Eras Tour in 2023, worth more than the yearly economic output of 42 countries.
But the collective economic force of Swift’s fans goes further than them purchasing tickets. It’s also spurred by their planning and organising to unite around concert dates – and ultimately spending on travel, food, accommodation, and clothing. Cities that Swift visits experience an economic lift, leading The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia to analyse the “Swift Effect” in injecting revenue into local economies.
Then there is the spending impact of the “Barbie Effect’. The release of the Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie has not only significantly bolstered the share price of Mattell, but economists say it also boosts the economy in specific cities, again around people (mostly women and girls) coming together to see and experience it. The movie now has nine Golden Globe nominations. It holds the record as the biggest box office hit of 2023 and has had a cultural impact that will extend well beyond those who visit cinemas.
In Australia, there was “The Matildas Effect” around the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The Matildas brought more opportunities for joy to Australia than any other group this year. The games smashed viewing and ticket sale records. In the space of just a few weeks, this team had media outlets scrambling to rethink how they are covering women’s sport, and major brands shifting their priorities to better focus on women.
The Commonwealth Bank’s Household Spending Insights Index showed the World Cup delivered an uptick in spending related to recreation activity in Australia. The Matildas didn’t just inspire spending on ticket sales, they also bolstered the push for people to come together in homes and across pubs and hotels to eat, drink, celebrate and be together. It’s a good reason why ‘Matilda’ has received ‘word of the year’ status from the Australian National Dictionary Centre.
These examples are at the extreme end of being able to bring people together and boost the economy. But they also represent the potential of millions.
Women are also a major untapped resource, which came further into focus this year thanks to key insights being shared at the national level. There is a $128 billion opportunity to unlock the potential of women, according to a major report delivered to the federal government from the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce.
Some will see the big and obvious examples of women in sport and entertainment and seek to leverage such opportunities further in 2024.
But others still need more convincing.
It’s astounding to consider how little VC funding goes to women, with all-female founding teams receiving just 3 per cent of such capital in Australia and those with a female co founder taking around 10 per cent.
Studies have found that women-led companies deliver a far better return on investment than male-led companies, generating 78 cents for every dollar funded, compared to 31 cents for male-founded startups, according to 2021 BCG and MassChallenge Research. Think also about the lost potential for Australia from investors who fail to and overlook women.
Now, as we head into 2024, it’s also astounding to think about how slowly policies are moving to unlock the economic opportunity in women more generally.
If a handful of women can lift a city or country’s economy, just imagine what breaking down the barriers in the way of millions of women could do.