The money is there OK, the punters just choose to spend it elsewhere.
There is probably considerable truth in this. There are substantial numbers of people in the 30-50 crowd who could find the money to take up flying as a hobby if they were prepared to make more or less trivial sacrifices (e.g. go on less expensive vacations; live in smaller houses; do without the latest clothes, stereo systems, televisions and computer games; etc.).