It’s no secret that women often face more challenges when it comes to money than men do.
According to recent statistics, women earn less than men in nearly every field, and they are also more likely to live in poverty.
Despite these obstacles, there are things women can do to take control of their finances and achieve financial security. Here are some key women and money statistics that you should know about.
Takeaway Women and Money Statistics
- A UN report launched in 2020 revealed that women who are in the labor were less than half of all working-age women.
- There has been a gender gap in the labor market since 1995 with just 47% of women of working age participating in the labor market, compared to 74% of men.
- In 2019, only 28% of women held managerial positions globally.
- Of all the enterprises surveyed in 2020, only 18% had Chief Executive Officers who were women.
- Of the Chief Executive Officers in 500 wealthy corporations, only 37 were women accounting for only 7.4%.
- Women’s participation in politics has doubled in parliamentary seats but remains at 25% and 22% among cabinet ministers.
- 31% of young women are not in employment education or training compared to 14% men.
- 79% of women are paid, domestic workers.
- 65% of women access formal financial services compared to 72% of men.
- Women spend an extra two and half hours on unpaid domestic and care work compared to men.
(Source: United Nations)
It is clear from these data that women are underrepresented in the work market, limiting their ability to earn as much money as males do in the same occupation. It is also undeniable that the majority of women labor in low-paying professions and devote more time to unpaid household chores than males, limiting their ability to achieve their full economic potential.
Read the statistics in the following sections to find out the specific trends and statistics on women and money.
Women and Financial Literacy.
When we talk about financial literacy, we are referring to the information and understanding that allows a person to make good financial choices and manage their money efficiently. As a result, financial literacy has an impact on an individual’s overall financial well-being.
In this section, you will come across statistics that relate to financial literacy among women.
1. The TIAA Institute and The George Washington University Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center study revealed that 49% of women could correctly answer financial literacy questions compared to 56% of men.
(Source: TIAA Institute)
Less than half of the US women in this 2020 study showed competence in financial literacy.
2. 12% of women demonstrated a high level of financial knowledge compared to 27% of men.
(Source: TIAA Institute)
Men who demonstrated excellent financial knowledge outnumbered women by a factor of more than two to one, according to the study. This implies that the majority of women lacked the same level of financial understanding as males.
3. Research done in 2014 revealed that 38% of American men could correctly answer financial questions compared to 22% of women.
(Source: MLR)
This study also confirms that more women than men are less literate regarding financial matters.
4. A 2017 study showed that 18% of women between 60 and 75 years passed a literary test on retirement income in contrast to 35% of men.
(Source: Annuity)
Almost 80% of women could not pass a financial literacy exam when it came to retirement, while only 65% of men could. Women who lack financial literacy face a variety of financial consequences, including problems managing their income, taxes, and investments, as well as incurring big credit card bills and defaulting on their loan obligations.
5. The Department of Education in the US reported that 3.8 million adult American women have below basic level literacy skills.
(Source: Annuity)
Lack of financial knowledge makes it difficult for individuals to comprehend bank statements, credit card agreements, and other financial paperwork. This implies that many women will be unable to comprehend these financial papers, which will have an impact on their financial choices.
Wage Gap between Men and Women
The gender wage gap refers to the difference between what women earn in income compared to what men earn in income.
Statistics in this section deals with wage gaps that exist between men and women throughout their careers.
6. Male marketing managers earn a median of $1,732 a week while females earn an average of $1,435 weekly.
(Source: the balance)
A disparity of 297 USD in weekly wages exists between men and women marketing managers, according to statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
7. 2018 bureau data showed that women earned 82 cents for every one dollar that men earned.
(Source: Center for American Progress)
This is the ratio of the average annual wages of full-time employees to the national average. There is a difference of 18 cents between the two genders, based on this calculation. There are, however, substantial variations in wages across races and ethnicities, as follows: Asian women make 90 cents per hour, white women earn 79 cents per hour, black women earn 62 cents per hour, native women earn 57 cents per hour, and Latinos earn 54 cents per hour.
A difference of 82 cents per dollar may seem like a small amount, but when computed on an annual basis, it equates to $10,194 less wages for every woman who works. If this wage disparity stayed constant, a woman would earn $407,760 less than a male over the course of a 40-year career, on average.
8. Cumulatively, more than 55 million full-time women workers in the US earned about $545.7 billion less than what their male counterparts earned in 2019.
(Source: Center for American Progress)
If the wage gap between men and women were closed, each woman worker and her family might earn an additional $9,613.13 a year, which could be used to cover expenditures such as school loan payments, childcare fees, food, and other necessities.
9. In 2019, a survey done on workers with a bachelor’s degree revealed that women earned 74 cents for every dollar that men made which is less than 78 cents earned by women without a college degree.
(Source: The US Census Bureau)
Although greater education leads to better wages, it also results in a larger pay disparity between men and women. The greater the degree of schooling, the greater the disparity in income between men and women. As a result, the wage disparity between men and women with degrees is greater than among women without degrees.
10. An NWLC analysis done in 2018 shows that a woman loses $16,000 annually to the wage gap after childbirth.
(Source: National Women’s Law Center)
According to the results of the study, women receive 71 cents for every dollar given to dads. Mothers lose thousands of dollars each year as a result of the pay gap created by parenthood. This chasm occurs in every state in the United States. Mothers perform better in Maine, where they are paid 85 cents for every dollar given to dads, but they do worse in Utah, where they are paid just 58 cents for every dollar paid to fathers, according to the Census Bureau.
11. Although women ask for a raise as often as men do, they get a raise 15% of the time compared to 20% for men.
(Source: Harvard Business Review)
When women request a salary increase, they have lower odds of obtaining one than when men do. Although a 5 percent difference may seem little, it may build up to a significant difference over the course of a person’s whole professional life.
12. The share of venture capital that was given to startups in 2019 was $3.54 billion accounting for 2.7% of the total investment.
(Source: Fortune)
Funding for female investors increased but by only 2.7 percent.
Women and Wealth Statistics
Due to the salary disparity and the underrepresentation of women in the workforce, there are enormous wealth disparities between men and women, as the statistics below demonstrate.
13. 65% of the 300 articles aimed at women portrayed women as excessive spenders according to a Starling Bank study that analyzed them.
(Source: Refinery)
Women are seen as extravagant spenders in our society. As a result, articles targeted at women urged them to negotiate, utilize coupons, and exercise self-control when they were tempted to overindulge. Men were encouraged to spend more and invest more in order to enhance their influence in articles targeted at them.
14. A 2018 report by the American Association of University Women revealed that women had nearly two-thirds of the $1.4 trillion student debt while men had only a third.
(Source: AAUW)
Women owed 890 billion USD in student loan debt out of a total of 1.4 trillion USD in student loan debt, while males owed just 490 billion USD. This is a significant disparity, considering that women constituted 57 percent of all higher education students. Following completion of a bachelor’s degree, women graduate with a median debt of 2,700 USD, which is almost double the debt of males. Black women owe the most of the debt, with each woman owing 30,400 USD, while white women owe just 22,000 USD apiece.
15. 43% of Americans live from paycheck to paycheck, of which 85% are women.
(Source: CNBC)
According to a MetLife poll of more than 8000 people in the United States, more women than men are living paycheck to paycheck, according to the findings. In addition to the wage gap between men and women, as shown by studies, this discrepancy may be attributed to women’s greater home duties as well as their higher levels of education.
16. Mutual funds owned by women manage $430 billion in Asset Under Management (AUM), accounting for less than 1 percent of the total asset class AUM.
(Source: Knight Foundation)
Men control 99 percent of investment management firms, leaving women with just one percent of the industry’s total ownership and control.
17. Women have 71% of their assets in low-return cash compared to 60% held by men.
(Source: Think advisor)
Men place a greater emphasis on increasing their money than do women, who place a greater emphasis on preserving their wealth.
Covid-19 Effects on the Financial Well-being of Women
The recession that lasted from 2007 to 2009 was particularly harsh on industries that were dominated by males, such as construction and manufacturing. Women were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic-induced recession in 2020, as shown by the data presented in this section on sectors dominated by women.
18. 59% of the total jobs lost from February to May 2020, were from industries dominated by women with women accounting for 47% of the jobs compared to 28% by men.
(Source: Pew Research)
The travel, education, health-care, and retail industries were the most affected by Covid-19, with the majority of employment being held by women in these fields. As a result of the epidemic, more women than males lost their employment, according to this statistic. As a result, more women than males saw a reduction in income.
19. Of people who had lost their jobs by April 2021, 14.3% were women while 11.9% were men.
(Source: BLS)
By April 2021, there were more women out of work than males. Black women accounted for 17.2 percent of the women who had lost their employment, while Latina women accounted for 19.5 percent. The loss of jobs was also correlated with ethnicity. When compared to white women, more Latina and black women have lost their employment.
20. Women accounted for 55% of the jobs lost during the Covid-19 recession.
(Source: NPR)
In April 2020, women’s unemployment rose by 2.7 percentage points more than that of males. Among women, the jobless rate was 16.2 percent, while the figure among males was 13.5 percent in May. Covid-19 has a disproportionately negative impact on women’s employment opportunities compared to men’s.
21. The outbreak of Covid-19 has led to a drop in new women hires from 46.94% pre-Covid-19 to 44% post-Covid-19.
(Source: LinkedIn)
According to a study of LinkedIn data, the impacts of Covid-19 resulted in a reduction in the number of women hired in the workforce. Before the epidemic, the entertainment and financial industries saw a rise in the number of female employees; however, following the outbreak, the number of female hiring dropped dramatically.
22. A 2020 Ellevest survey of women about the pandemic and their money showed that 92% of women with an annual income of less than $50,000 realized the need to strengthen their financial safety, while 80% of women across all income levels started reassessing their financial goals.
(Source: Master card)
As a result of the epidemic, women have begun to place more emphasis on their financial security and on setting financial objectives that would assist them in achieving future financial independence. The danger to their financial future serves as an excellent lesson for them in terms of preparing for such unforeseeable events that may jeopardize their financial stability in the future.
23. In 2020, 57% of women spent 21 hours or more during the pandemic on housework, while 60% of men spent 14 hours or less.
(Source: LEAN IN)
The majority of women spent more than seven hours per week on housework, compared to the majority of males. In addition to the 7 hours that women spent more time on housework than men, they also spent 7.4 hours more time caring for children and 5.3 hours more time caring for the ill and old than males. In one week, ladies spent almost 20 hours more time than males, which is the equivalent of doing a part-time job.
24. It was predicted that by 2020, women would control $22T of wealth in the United States.
(Source: Bank of America Corporation)
This forecast was based on the number of women who graduated from college, which was higher than the number of males, accounting for 57 percent of all degree recipients. Women’s wages rose by 75% between 1970 and 2015 as a result of the growth in educational attainment, compared to a 5% increase for males during same period. In 2019, for example, women obtained 56 percent of bachelor’s degrees, compared to 44 percent of males who received bachelor’s degrees.
Saving and Investment Trends between Men and Women.
When it comes to saving and investing, women and men have very different habits. The statistics in this part will show the differences in saving and investing patterns between men and women….
25. A 2017 Fidelity survey showed that Women saved 9.0% of their salary each year, compared to an 8.6% saved by their male counterparts.
(Source: Fidelity)
Women contribute more to their employment retirement accounts than men, despite the fact that they earn less than males. They also save more money in IRAs and brokerage accounts than the average person. It will have far-reaching consequences in the future if there is a small discrepancy in savings.
26. The fidelity survey also revealed that women surpass men by 40 points or 0.4% in investing.
(Source: Fidelity)
When it came to investment, women outperformed their male counterparts. Although the difference seems to be little, it may have a significant effect over time.
27. 70% of all the assets held by women are in cash.
(Source: Ellevest)
Despite the fact that women are better investors than men, women invest less than men. They keep the majority of their money in cash, which means they may lose out on market gains. Inflation may potentially cause them to lose some of their buying power as well.
28. The Transamerica retirement survey done in 2018 revealed that women had only 42,000 USD in household retirement accounts compared to 123,000 USD for men.
(Source: Transamerica center)
In comparison to males, women have much smaller overall family retirement savings. Men had a 38 percent share of family retirement accounts with $250,000 in assets, while women had a 20 percent share. As a result, women are more likely than males to have financial problems when they reach retirement age. It is possible that their little retirement funds may not be sufficient to meet their requirements after retirement.
29. The 2020 New York Life Investment Management research showed that women control about $22 trillion accounting for 51% of the personal wealth in the US.
(Source: Financial Advisor)
By 2020, women were in control of more than half of all personal wealth in the United States, according to the Census Bureau. The United States economy is expected to grow by 30% during the next 40 years, reaching about 29 trillion USD.
30. In 2017, approximately 60% of US men invested in stocks compared with only 40% of women.
(Source: CFA)
According to a Gallup poll conducted in 2017, this 20 percent point disparity has decreased and is closing rapidly. In the period 2001-2008, stock ownership was held by 65 percent of males and 59 percent of women. Historically, males have outnumbered women when it comes to stock market investment.
Final Thought
Although the amount of money made by women and men may vary from year to year, the pay disparity between men and women is unlikely to be closed anytime soon. In order to avoid the wage gap from becoming a monolithic investment and retirement gap, individuals must take personal responsibility for their financial development.
If we want to reduce the pay gap, we must address the many factors that contribute to it, as well as the prejudices that prohibit women from earning as much as males. Our attention should be focused on both economic security and social equality.
Women are stronger investors than men, but they invest at a lower rate than their male counterparts. They are in possession of more than half of the personal wealth in the United States of America. Women’s wages are increasing as more and more women obtain college degrees than males, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
FAQ
Q: What is the meaning of the term financial literacy?
Personal financial management, budgeting, and saving are all examples of activities that need financial literacy. People may become self-sufficient and therefore attain financial security with the assistance of this program. Financial literacy is concerned with the capacity to manage one’s own finances by making proper financial decisions in areas such as savings, real estate, insurance, retirement, and budgeting, among others.
Q: What does the term wage gap mean?
Answer: The term “wage gap” refers to a statistical indicator that is often used to indicate the status of women’s wages in comparison to men’s earnings, as well as to compare earnings across various demographics. Calculated by dividing the median annual earnings of one population by the median annual earnings of another demography, and presented as a percentage, it is a measure of relative wealth.
Q: What is the US gender wage gap in 2020?
Answer: The gender wage gap in the United States has been constant over the last fifteen years. According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, women earned 84 percent of what men earned. At this pace, it would take women 42 more days to earn the same amount as males. Women between the ages of 25 and 34 had a narrower pay difference in 2020, with women in this age bracket receiving 93 cents for every dollar a male of the same age earned.
Q: What percentage of stock investors are women?
26 percent of American women have made stock market investments, while 65 percent of women keep their assets in cash, compared to 51 percent of males. Women are less likely than males to have plans for their money, with 41 percent of women saying they had no intentions.
Q: What percentage of investors are men?
Answer: White males are in charge of 99 percent of the businesses. Eighty-eight percent of senior managers and more than seventy percent of junior professional investors are white, according to the data. Women make up just 8% of the investors in this fund.
Sources
National Women’s Law Center
Fidelity
