A new study has discovered how women are more inclined to have less savings than men.
Having savings is something we all aspire to have but not enough people have. In fact, one in 10 Brits have no savings at all and 41% of Brits don’t have enough savings to live for one month without income.
These sobering statistics highlight the reality of financial security in the UK, with many having little to no savings at all – and a new study has discovered that women are more inclined to have less savings than men.
A recent study reported by The Conversation found that being in a couple can leave women with less savings, suggesting that “gender norms influence attitudes towards savings”.
The research analysed the long-term savings goals among 1,760 people at a UK investment firm, along with insights from 56 interviews with a group of UK-based men and women.
The analysis found that men and women who are married or living together “strongly diverge” when it comes to their chosen savings goals, compared to those who live on their own.
“More specifically, married or co-habiting men are more likely to be in charge of long-term saving for the household and they typically choose more ambitious personal savings goals,” the report claims.
The research shows that one of the reasons for this is due to traditional gender roles linked to particular members of the household.
Women who were in charge of caring and domestic work tended to focus on “short-term financial security” while men “tend to choose more ambitious goals and use investment products that are designed for longer-term savings habits and have the potential for better returns.”
The study claimed men also take on the role of “managing long-term investments” and thus setting challenging long-term wealth goals in relationships where there is a “traditional” division of roles.
For single people, however, this differed.
Both men and women perform the short and long-term financial tasks and the study found “no gender differences in savings goals”.
“This absence of any gender-based effect among the people in our study who are not part of a couple shows a clear need to move beyond simply accepting that all men and women think differently about saving and investing when discussing retirement planning and financial risk-taking.”
Single people performing both long and short-term financial tasks comes alongside news that the cost of living crisis disproportionately impacts singletons who don’t have the support of a partner.
Research shows single people on average are paying £7,564.50 a year more than their coupled-up counterparts on basic household outgoings.
Meanwhile, a single person is paying on average £674 a month on rent, while a couple only slightly more at £866 (or £433 per person if split equally).
With insecure jobs rising to 3.7 million and UK inflation rising for the ninth month in a row, financial security is something on people’s minds, with women – both single and in relationships – disproportionately affected by this gender wealth gap and our uncertain economic future.
But for women in relationships, assessing your financial goals and ensuring that saving is just as much of a priority among you both is key.
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