International Women’s Day 2021: How Kiwi Women Fare Financially

In light of International Women’s Day this Monday, Finder has compiled some research and stats around women and their financial position.

Our research covers key areas including investing, KiwiSaver, property ownership and personal finance. Our global PR manager, Susannah Binsted, is also available for comment.

See below for more information, or view the full range of research at: https://www.finder.com/nz/women-and-money-in-2021

Stats

Investing

• When they do invest, women tend to be more successful than their male counterparts.
• A three-year study from Warwick Business School found that women outperform men by 1.8 percentage points on average.
• A Finder survey of 1,109 New Zealand females found that they are most likely to invest in property (25%), KiwiSaver top-ups (23%) and term deposits (23%).
• Yet Finder research also shows women are less likely to invest, with more than 1 in 4 Kiwi men (27%) owning a share trading account, compared to just 16% of women.

Saving & budgeting

• A new Finder study of 1,501 respondents revealed that more than 1 in 8 women (13%) could survive off their savings for less than a week, compared to just 5% of men.
• The gender pay gap in New Zealand is still around 9.5%, with women earning around $12,000 less per year than men on average.
• Yet more than a third of women (36%) say that they are diligent about setting and sticking to a budget, compared to 26% of men.

KiwiSaver

• A Finder survey of 2,001 New Zealanders shows that more women (77%) than men (64%) have a KiwiSaver account.
• The survey also found that women (23%) are more likely than men (18%) to top up their KiwiSaver balance from time to time.
• Yet on average, women have $11,962 in KiwiSaver compared to $15,488 for men – that’s a 23% difference.

Commentary from Susannah Binsted, global PR manager at Finder

• “The data shows that more women budget and put extra money away for retirement, yet more than one in ten women would struggle to survive off their savings for more than a week.
• “To be able to save and invest effectively requires a disposable income. Given we tend to earn less throughout our lifetime, it’s not surprising that the average woman has less in assets and retires with a smaller balance in our KiwiSaver compared to males.
• “But the news isn’t all bad. Although women tend to have smaller bank balances than men on average, our research shows that we’re typically better at managing our money through budgeting or investing,” Binsted said.

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