International Women’s Day is an important day to reflect that there’s still much more to be done to insure women’s financial futures and level the playing field in financial services. The UK statistics continue to shock:
- Women still face a national gender pay gap of 9% for full-time workers overall, rising to 14% for women in their 40s and 18% for women in their 50s
- The median pension wealth for married men is £59,000 while for married women it is £10,000
- 55% of women have not thought about how they will pay for their long-term care
And yet, women are half the market for the financial services industry. Equality is central to the Emerald mission. While the overall population can today look forward to longer and more prosperous lives, the issues of financial security, elderly care and strained pensions remain real issues for women when compared to men.
There’s no doubt that general life issues like health and relationships are intimately tied to finances and career choices. Just a snapshot of these are:
- 14% of women in their 40s care for both children and elderly relatives
- More couples are separating in their 50s but 71% of divorced people do not discuss pensions during proceedings which has big implications most often for women’s financial outlook
- One in four women has suffered domestic abuse
Continuing, united efforts are needed to increase awareness of vulnerabilities women face and to challenge institutions, employers and communities to proactively engage in steps which bring greater equality.
Emerald is working hard on this in the world of financial services. But everyone is needed to make gender equality happen.
