New Zealand women face significant financial challenges despite progress in education and earning power.
New Zealand women face significant financial challenges despite progress in education and earning power.
THREE KEY FACTS
New Zealand’s gender pay gap, which is based on the difference in the hourly earnings of women and men, is 8.6%
Across New Zealand, many women are employed in industries where more than 80% of the employees are female, and these jobs tend to be lower-paid.
The gender pay gap has decreased significantly since records began in 1998 when it was 16.3%, but it has remained stuck around 9% since 2017.
In a series of four articles for Money Month, co-founder of Hi Money and Project Gender, Angela Meyer, shines a light on the state of New Zealand women’s financial lives. This week, she discusses the link between money and wellbeing.
OPINION
“I’m basically screwed –I can’t afford to live. I’m in a cost-of-being-alive crisis!” says Kate, a 43-year-old woman earning $56K a year.
Not many people feel excited about their financial lives right now. In fact, 70% of New Zealanders worry about money either daily, weekly, or monthly. Conversations with friends and colleagues often revolve around the cost of living crisis, inflation, job security and, for those in Wellington, job cuts and fear.
For women, these conversations are even more intense. Sallie Krawcheck, chief executive of Ellevest, an online investing platform for women, shared that “Women’s number one source of stress is money.” According to the 2023 Fidelity Investments survey, women most commonly associate money with “stress,” while men describe it as “hopeful”.
Money is more than just a means of transaction; it is our social status, sense of belonging, worth, and security. It’s freedom and choice. But there is something else at play – money’s not just about maths; it’s about beliefs, ideas, and emotions. For women, our relationship with money is really complicated.
First, we need to unpack some of the systemic reasons why women face numerous financial challenges. As of 2024, there is a 36% gender gap in retirement contributions. Women tend to save less money for retirement because they earn less than men do and their careers are more likely to be interrupted by unpaid caregiving.
New research by the Financial Services Council (FSC) found that two-thirds of female respondents had personal incomes of less than $50,000, and only 6% of female respondents earned above $100,000 compared with 15% of male respondents. It also showed that 60% of female respondents worked part-time, casually, or were not currently working compared to 40% of their male counterparts.
Even though women have made big progress in their educational attainment and earning power, there is still a significant disconnect in how men and women view their financial opportunities. In 2021, the FSC revealed that 80% of women rated their financial well-being as low or very low.
We are facing a gendered financial crisis.
Is it any wonder that so many women have a complicated relationship with money?
New Zealand's gender pay gap has decreased from 16.3% in 1998 to 8.6% today. Photo / 123rf
“I feel like money is ghosting me. As soon as I had kids, I realised that I was waving goodbye to money. It makes me feel really embarrassed, dependent, and totally scared,” says Kate.
Despite how central money is to our lives, many women have never been explicitly taught about it; some were even told it was not “ladylike” to talk about money. According to the 2024 Her Money Mindset survey by Investopedia, fewer than one in four women who talk with their friends about money, have shared how much they make. Income differences and financial situations play the biggest role in women avoiding money conversations with friends. Fear of judgement and shame are common, especially among women with household incomes below $75,000 a year, and those in different financial situations than their peers. In comparison, 62% of men said they were “comfortable” in talking about their financial health.
How we think and feel about money profoundly influences our financial behaviours and decisions.
In my work as a gender equity strategist, I’m up close and personal with women’s financial anxiety every day.
We recently received a record number of applications for scholarship places in Hi Money, the 12-part course I co-founded with Rachel Davies to help women reframe their relationship with money. In the applications, women expressed that they wanted greater ease with their finances, and shared they were feeling overwhelmed, panicked, and experiencing significant financial stress.
The simple fact is that our financial industry has been built by men, for men. Women’s earnings, lifespans, and motivations are different and require different approaches to building and managing wealth.
Increasingly, more women are taking a therapeutic approach to their relationship with money, exploring the connection between their upbringing and beliefs and what they do with their money. We know that getting clear about your relationship with money can’t erase decades of structural inequality, we can’t budget our way out of poverty, but it can help women get serious about taking charge of their financial story.
Many women know there are tools and resources available to help them save more or get out of debt, like budgeting apps. But they feel that they will never “be good with money” which stops them from actively engaging with the tools.
Our research shows that the number one financial goal for women is to have more support in their relationship with money (71%).
Kate continues, “I want to work on mindset and behaviours, not just budgeting or being more responsible with money, which I should have been able to work out by now. I know that I have work to do around the connection between my earning and my worth.”
Angela Meyer.
Four Tips to Build a Healthier, Happier Relationship with Money
Examine your relationship with money. Reflect on your feelings, attitudes, and the stories you tell yourself about money.
Take stock of your spending. Identifying areas where you can adjust your spending can lead to more mindful and intentional financial choices. Take a close look at what you’re spending your money on. Track your expenses for a month to see where your money goes. How does this spending make you feel? Is there anything you’d like to change?
Go gently. Try to approach exploring your relationship with money with curiosity and non-judgment. Recognise that everyone has financial baggage and that it’s okay to take small steps toward improvement. Self-compassion is key to making lasting changes.
Talk about it. Don’t keep your financial concerns to yourself. Talking to friends and financial professionals about the “secret numbers” of your financial life can provide new perspectives and support.
