SI will soon learn to talk about money without feeling out of place and even a little unpleasant, to ask a company for a salary increase with the detachment of a man, and yes, to walk the last liberating kilometer that leads to a bank to negotiate, on their own, savings and investment goals in an informed and lucid way? On women’s complex relationship with money, savings and investments investigated research on Italian men and women aged 18 to 65, carried out by Ipsos for UniCredit in collaboration with Corriere della Sera.
Money and women: love and prejudice
Title: “The Italian approach to finance: education and literacy among women and men“. Confirmation: to the gender gaps with which all research now describes the female condition in the country is added that in financial matters. First data: only 22 percent of women manage family finances, 31 percent do not deal with it at all; of these, one in three prefers to delegate to those who – she replies – “know more than me”. Still, interest in managing money, savings and investments is higher among men (67 percent) than among women (53 percent). Bottom line: 40 percent of women feel satisfied with their personal economic situation, while 55 percent of men do.
He knows more than me: cultural heritage that dies hard
«Overall, the research highlights the consequences of those cultural legacies and educational conditioning which – we now know – are at the origin of gender gaps and continue to influence many female behaviors, see for example study paths» comments Ilaria Ugenti , Reputation Leader of Ipsos. But she adds: «After that, there is some data that foreshadows a change of pace on the part of the younger ones and a reduction in the gap between genders. For example, if men tend to take charge of the family’s financial choices and women tend to let shared decisions prevail, the youngest women declare that in the couple everyone manages decisions about money independently, with a percentage – 18 percent – , similar to that of men, 17 percent. If then among women, especially the more mature ones, an attitude of risk aversion prevails in terms of savings and investments, the younger ones instead also look at returns”.
For women, money is a complicated relationship due above all to stereotypes that are still too deeply rooted (Getty)
Basic vocabulary is missing
But it is on the knowledge of financial instruments and the confidence in knowing how to use them that women proceed with the handbrake on. If interest rate and inflation are the concepts best known by both genders, among men there are higher percentages of knowledge in all other subjects. For example, 39 percent of men and 24 percent of women say they know the risk-return relationship well, insurance and risk transfer 28 percent of men and 16 percent of women, compound interest rate 16 percent of women and 27 percent of men. Then, when the researchers tested actual preparation with specific questions, one man in three answered correctly, while only one woman in five did so. And, in any case, women who answered 3 tests correctly and already had the basic knowledge are half as many as men (20 versus 40 percent). In particular, when talking about diversification of investments, half of the men and a third of the women give the right answer, but 51 percent cannot answer the question.
Women with money are good, but they don’t believe in it
«The way we are raised about money influences the way in which we project ourselves into society throughout our lives, as well as the way in which we educate our sons and daughters” summarizes the economist Azzurra Rinaldi, professor of Political Economy and director of the School of Gender Economics at Unitelma Sapienza University, author of the book Ladies don’t talk about money. How much does gender inequality cost us?
«Girls suffer from an external prejudice of inability which, before money, has to do with the world of numbers. There is a study by the American government’s Department of Education that makes a certain impression: researchers ask primary school students who is better at mathematics between boys and girls. Males answer: males. And even females say “males”, and even teachers. But when researchers check the grade registers, they discover that those of girls are on average higher than those of boys.”
That taboo instilled in little girls
And he continues: «Research informs us that the moment in which prejudice is assimilated and imprinted is the formative period of seven-eight years. On top of this comes the load of already well-known prejudices, not least the one for which women are less good than men at making money work or that ladies don’t talk about money. In short, the pervasiveness of gender prejudices convinces us that money doesn’t concern us, we aren’t capable of it anyway. And we delegate men to take care of it for us, losing that power – because money is power – which is a prerequisite for autonomy.”
Financial Independence = Leadership
For Annalisa Areni, Head of Client Strategies at UniCredit, financial independence is a prerequisite of leadership. «I believe that the affirmation of female leadership has as its necessary premise the issue of women’s economic emancipation, emancipation through which to accelerate progress towards gender equality and contribute to the growth of economies» she said speaking at the presentation of the research. «When I talk about leadership I am referring, first and foremost, to the power to choose and self-determine, build your own life path. From this perspective, money is the main driver of financial independence through which to acquire autonomy and, above all, awareness of one’s own value, economic and otherwise”.
Financial educators wanted
A further paradox: the country of super antsworld champion of private savings (according to the Bank of Italy, the bank deposits of Italian families amount to 1,159 billion euros), he literally doesn’t know how to handle them. Italians are in 63rd place in the Global Financial Literacy Survey ranking, which measures the basic financial knowledge of people in 150 countries, in last position among the G20 countries according to the OECD. And they are absolutely aware of it. «In the Ipsos research, the need for education on saving and money management was expressed without gender distinction» specifies Ipsos users.
It is felt above all for pensions and social security, protection from the risk of fraud, the criteria for evaluating a bank, protection in the event of accidents. «69 percent of women and 73 percent of men ask, indeed, that training in the financial field is among school subjects». And from this year, on paper, it is like this: she has been included in Civic Education for all secondary schools.
The goal of an equal dialogue
As for actual investments, women and men show great caution. Women, in particular. Having 10 thousand euros at their disposal, more than men would be inclined to keep it liquid or to invest only a small part of it. 43 percent specifically said “I don’t like taking risks,” compared to 35 percent of men. «Not being afraid of risk is recklessness. We are afraid of what we don’t know and, in most cases, the investor neither knows the risk of the financial instrument nor is able to evaluate the time horizon. In this context, I believe that the bank can play a fundamental role through its consultants” commented Areni, bringing the testimony of a Southern businesswoman she met at a conference dedicated to the theme of “Women and Finance”.
«When her father died, she said, she found herself not knowing how to manage the small sum of money she inherited. Because she feared that she had neither the skills nor the ability to communicate with the promoter who had always followed their savings, the result of a life of sacrifices. So he gets involved, buying finance books. She takes courses and turns to the people who seem most competent to her within banking and financial institutions, until she feels ready. And, in full autonomy and in just five years, you have more than doubled the value of your inherited legacy. But the greatest satisfaction for her was interfacing with male professionals, no longer fearing their judgement, and deciding on her own investments” concludes Areni.
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED