5 common challenges faced by women when it comes to financial wellbeing

A common factor with workplace financial education programmes seems to be that employee take-up and interest is mostly from men. This is certainly true of my own experience over the last decade, and that of my colleagues. Between us, we have worked with hundreds of employers and delivered workplace financial education programmes to thousands of employees. The vast majority of employees who have attended our workshops have been male.

The wisdom of segmenting your workforce when providing financial wellbeing benefits is widely accepted. As with any communication exercise, to be successful, your messages must be relevant to your audience. So it makes perfect sense to tailor your financial education sessions and content for particular groups of people.

Typically, segmentation might be based on age or salary level, which is a great place to start. The financial planning issues faced by an apprentice or graduate, for example, are likely to be very different to those of a high earning executive. However, if a financial wellbeing programme is to be truly inclusive and effective, there is strong evidence to suggest that running sessions specifically for women is also a logical approach to explore.

Researching this subject over the last couple of months by talking to focus groups, journalists and industry experts has been revealing and rewarding. It became clear immediately that there is a huge appetite for financial education specifically aimed at women. Here are the top five recurring topics that were suggested throughout these discussions:

1) Changes to state pension age (SPA)

The equalisation of male and female SPAs, alongside the overall increase in SPA for everyone, has meant many women have seen a sudden and dramatic increase in their SPA. What is their SPA and how can they best adjust their plans to meet the new timeframes?

2) The gender pay gap

Let’s not pretend this doesn’t exist. It does. In June, a major UK newspaper reported for every £1 earned by a man, a woman earns 80 pence. Lower salaries mean lower pension contributions, less disposable income and less money available for other savings – important considerations when managing your money.

3) Life expectancy

Women typically live longer then men, with an average life expectancy around three to four years older. In addition, the average age difference between a husband and wife is about three to six years, with the husband being older. This potentially means a longer retirement for women. For some, particularly for older generations, it may also be the first time they are financially independent.

4) Children, career breaks and maternity/paternity benefits

Many women take breaks from their professional career in order to have children and raise a family. This can impact a number of financial areas: they may not be entitled to a full basic state pension, their participation in the additional earnings-related state pension elements such as SERPS and the state second pension may be minimal, they may have long periods where they are not receiving any earnings or putting aside any savings. And so on.

In addition, many people are not fully aware of their rights and options with regards to maternity/paternity care and benefits. Raising awareness and understanding of current legislation and any specific benefits offered by their employer can make a big difference to someone’s financial wellbeing.

5) Unisex insurance rates

Up until a few years ago, women typically received better rates than men when purchasing financial products such as life cover or car insurance. At the same time, they typically received lower rates when purchasing annuities or income protection insurance. This all changed, by law, with the introduction of unisex rates in 2012.

These are all important factors and worthy of specific, focused discussions. Rather than ponder why the attendance at financial education workshops has historically been mostly male, let us now concentrate on creating an environment where all women can take control of their own personal financial journey.

James Biggs is head of financial wellbeing at Lorica.

This article was supplied by Lorica.