Female Finances

Whilst society is striving to overcome gender inequality in many aspects of life, when it comes to money, women are still at a significant disadvantage to men.

The gender pay gap in the UK, for instance, means that the average woman earns 9.4% less than the average man in the same company. Women are also more likely to switch to part time working or take career breaks to care for children and sick or elderly relatives. As a result, as well as lower earnings, women’s careers tend to be more disrupted, they can experience slower career progression, and ultimately, they face significant disadvantages when it comes to achieving financial stability and security.

But it doesn’t stop there. Research shows that women generally have less confidence than men when it comes to money and find pension and savings communications more confusing. This can manifest in several ways, including avoiding financial decisions or relying on others to manage their finances. Women are also less likely than men to invest in the stock market or take financial risks, which means that even when they do manage to build savings and plan for retirement, their savings are likely to grow at a much slower rate than they would for a man.

And then there is the menopause. This natural and inevitable stage in every woman’s life is often accompanied by physical and emotional changes that can sometimes be overwhelming. Unfortunately, it’s a stage of life that many employers still don’t fully understand or appreciate, and women are not always given the support in the workplace they should get. Instead, all too often, employees confuse the symptoms of menopause as women showing a lack of commitment, becoming less productive or becoming difficult to work with and as a result many women leave work at this time of their life due to feeling isolated, anxious, and insecure in their jobs.

So what can be done to address the financial challenges and imbalances women face when it comes to money? One thing is to provide women with greater money confidence and knowledge through financial education in the workplace, which is where Better with Money can help.
Better with Money’s Women and Money webinar is structured in an interesting and accessible way, and specifically designed to provide women with the skills and resources to gain more money confidence, overcome specific financial challenges and start to achieve greater financial independence.

It will take the concerted efforts by business; policy makers are society to remove all inequality when it comes to women and money. However, supporting women to become more confident with money through financial education in the workplace is an important step in the right direction.

If you would like to find out more about the courses Better with Money provides, please get in touch.