Women and Money: The Latest News and Highlights

February went in a flash and it’s been another rollercoaster ride for women in the news.

While more big businesses revealed their yawning gender pay gaps (Barclays currently running a 48% gap between male and female pay!) women all over the world have continued to fearlessly break their silence on harassment through the momentous #MeToo movement.

Why not grab a cuppa and take a moment to catch up on our roundup of February’s biggest financial stories which are relevant to you.

Women and Money: February Top Picks and Highlights

1. The Female Investor is Savvier than the Male…

Let’s start with the positive news. The Times has revealed that women make savvier investors than men.

Online investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown compared their male and female customers and found that, although women are not as active in investing as men, when they do they beat the boys by 0.48% more in returns.

So why do women make better investment choices? They tend to invest in smaller companies and have a ‘buy and hold’ mentality.

But there’s still a way to go to get more women investing. “Women are far better investors than they think they are,” said Sarah Coles, personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. “They are often held back by a concern that they don’t have sufficient in-depth knowledge, or that they don’t want to take on too much risk.”

A lack of knowledge and confidence stops women thinking they can invest. Also, financial planning website moneymarketing.co.uk also revealed that many women are put off investing by financial jargon.

Here at Money Nuggets we have a wealth of plain-speaking investment resources, written with you in mind. Have a read today! Why not sign up to over investing series to learn more on a subject that has a much better performance yield than the lottery?

2. The Motherhood Penalty

Women are suffering a pay penalty at work because of motherhood, revealed the BBC. This isn’t news to us – we are all aware of the Motherhood Penalty but the pay gaps revealed for working mothers in particular are frankly gobsmacking.

According to research by the Institute of Fiscal studies, it’s women who go part-time when they have children, taking their pay and status hurtling downwards. The report found that by the time their child is 20, mothers are earning a third less than fathers and missing out on the benefits and career progression enjoyed by full-timers.

Expensive and low quality childcare options force many highly qualified mothers into part-time work. Even more depressing, the take up rate of shared parental leave is less than 2% among British fathers. It’s clear that, for now, it’s still women who have to choose between a career and a child….

3. The Dream Team

It’s not all bad news for women and work. Following revelations about the massive pay gap between men and women in the financial sector, Virgin Money revealed that they have appointed not one, but two women in the top jobs.

Irene Dorner has taken over as the first female chairperson of the bank, joining Jayne-Anne Gadhia as the first female chief executive. They are the only female duo heading up a FTSE 350-listed company. And according to 62-year-old Dorner, it’s women who should lead the way for other women: when women are visible in top positions, others will follow.

Here are 4 useful resources:

LEARN International Women’s Day 2018: How the day began and why the fight for women’s rights is still necessary: It’s International Women’s Day this Wednesday, but how did it all start – here is everything you need to know about the day.

READ Love is Not Enough: A Smart Woman’s Guide to Money: A book designed to help women take charge of their finances. This is one of the best personal finance books I read in 2017, a book I wish I had read sooner.

WATCH One Life-Changing Class You Never Took: Imagine if this was taught in schools, many of us will be in better positions financially. Unfortunately, most people learn it from their parents or through trial and error.

DOWNLOAD our FREE personal financial planner to help you track and achieve your financial goals this New Year.

Over to You

Have you come across any interesting women and money stories this month? Or maybe you have scored a financial goal in your own life. Share with us here, we’d love to hear from you. See you next month for March’s highlights, when Spring should have finally sprung!