Women Progress towards Closing the Financial Literacy Gap

Women Progress towards Closing the Financial Literacy Gap

Auckland, New Zealand –5 March, 2015 – MasterCard research has found that New Zealand women have a very high level of basic financial literacy, but lack confidence and understanding of complex money management and investment issues.

MasterCard’s MasterIntelligence research on money management found 95% of women are extremely confident in their ability to budget day to day finances, but fewer women than men are investing and saving for their retirement.

“The level of basic money management is strong, but the areas where women are furthest behind are arguably the most important to reduce the gender gap in financial literacy,” says Peter Chisnall, New Zealand Country Manager for MasterCard.

The survey found that 60% of women have not calculated the amount of funds they will need for retirement and 59% of women are not saving for precautionary measures.

Women stated their top saving priorities were for international travel (41%), and buying or upgrading their property (40%) rather than saving for retirement. Women are less likely to save for investments, with 34% of men using their savings for investments, compared to 16% of women.

“The results we found suggest women lack confidence with investing and are more conservative than men. If women have fewer investments with lower returns then they may have less money to put aside for their retirement,” says Chisnall.

The research showed that everyday household financial management is evenly split, with women equally managing monthly household finances. However, 24% of women admit to having problems keeping up with bills and credit commitments (18% of men), and 37% struggle to set aside money for big purchases (28% of men).

When asked about the most important initiative to advance women’s role in society, a quarter of those surveyed stated better parental leave provisions for both genders (24%). This was followed by 19% wanting more women on company boards and 14% stating there should be more women in Parliament.

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