Women holding purse strings

Women's wallets

Women pack a wallop when it comes to their purchasing power. Here's how they stack up financially:

* By 2010, women will control more than half of private U.S. wealth, or about $14 trillion.

* By 2020, that number is expected to rise to $22 trillion.

* About 48% of estates worth

$5 million or more are owned by women.

* In 30.7% of marriages in which women work, they out-earn their husbands.

* Women are central to 94% of home furnishing purchases, 91% of home purchases, 60% of vehicle purchases and 50% of business travel purchases.

Sources: Martha Barletta's "Marketing to Women: How to Increase Your Share of the World's Largest Market"; Fara Warner's "The Power of the Purse";"101 Facts on the Status of Working Women," Business and Professional Women's Foundation: October 2004; www.aboutwomen.ca; 2000 U.S. Census.

-- Diane Wedner