The knock-on effects stemming from greater rates of financial vulnerability among females need to be taken seriously by society, considering their consequences are not just financial in nature, according to an investment manager.
In celebration of International Women’s Day on 8 March 2020, nestegg is celebrating all things equality and the importance of realising women’s rights, particularly with regard to financial security.
New insights released from Fidelity International’s Value of Advice study have shown women continue to be more financially vulnerable than men, and it’s having a significant impact on health and wellbeing.
According to the study, almost half of women (44.1 per cent) do not believe they would be financially stable if their relationship or marriage were to end tomorrow.
Just 29.7 per cent of men feel the same way.
Women also indicate a higher rate of unease around job security, with more than one in three (34.5 per cent) indicating they would only be able to manage financially for up to a month if they lost their job unexpectedly.
Less than a quarter of men (23.8 per cent) held the same level of concern.
The results are “very concerning, for more than just financial reasons”, according to Alva Devoy, managing director of Fidelity International Australia.
She said “financial stress has many different knock-on effects — it impacts physical health as well as mental health, and personal relationships”.
“In our survey, more than half of women (57.7 per cent) said that financial issues have adversely affected their mental health, compared to 47.8 per cent of men,” Ms Devoy commented.
She also flagged that 41 per cent of women even reported that their physical health has been impacted by financial issues, compared to just 33 per cent of men.
And with more than six in 10 Australian women believing they may have to keep working past retirement age to fund their retirement, financial vulnerability concerns “are very valid for women”.
“With women still earning less, as well as being more likely to take time out of the workforce to raise a family, superannuation balances for women are significantly smaller,” the managing director said.
“This is a serious issue, especially when you consider that women’s life expectancy is longer.”
Ms Devoy highlighted how “closing the gender pay gap and helping women save more in their superannuation, as well as for a rainy day, are critical issues for our society as a whole, particularly in light of this year’s theme for International Women’s Day: Generation Equality”.
“Achieving more financial security doesn’t necessarily mean earning more money, but it does mean having a plan that helps women understand their financial position and what steps they need to take to feel more confident.”
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