Shocking financial gender divide - women have given up
The idea of the man as the head of the household, and the woman as his willing subordinate, is a ridiculous notion for the vast majority of British households. The idea that one person is in charge of decisions, carving the roast, and operating the remote control - while the other deals with the housekeeping - bears no relation to the reality in most homes... except when it comes to money.
A study by money.co.uk found that in most households, men take charge of the finances. In 59% of families they are responsible for the majority of financial plans and decisions. In 58% of cases they buy all the insurance, and media packages, and in 57% of homes they choose and pay for utilities. Meanwhile only 23% of women are in charge of ISAs, 18% handle pensions, 12% are in charge of investments, and 11% control the shares they buy and sell.
Men haven't had to wrestle control for this off the woman in their life, because the same study showed that 58% of women think the man is better at it, 30% don't want the responsibility and 19% say they don't understand personal finance.
Instead, the kinds of financial decisions they are happy to be left with are the unimportant day-to-day transactions that any fool can manage. This includes the weekly shop and booking holidays.
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Why?
It's almost impossible to imagine how people still hold these views in modern British society, but they owe much to the pervasive pull of cultural and social conditioning. We may have seen our parents divide roles like this, and they saw their parents do the same (where often the man was the only earner and therefore the only one with any cash to make plans for), so we just followed the pattern unthinkingly.
This may not have been a conscious decision, but after years of leaving things to their other half, it's easy for women to get into bad habits and lose faith in their ability to tackle money matters.
There's also the fact that previous generations saw maths and science as a fundamentally male sphere. For too long it was culturally acceptable for girls to throw up their hands and declare themselves 'bad at maths', rather than knuckling down to the business of learning. As these girls have grown up, their decision to opt out of maths is coming back to bite them, because an inability to understand percentages is never going to help them select the best borrowing options.
Does it matter?
If you believe in equality then of course it matters, but even if gender politics holds no interest for you, then there are reasons to be concerned.
The first is that not everyone is good at managing money. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. If women leave money matters entirely to the men, regardless of who has the strength in this area, there's a good chance that the least capable person is holding the purse strings.
Second, there is a time in everyone's life when they need to manage their own finances. Whether you are single for years, divorced or widowed, you'll need to get to grips with money. Statistically women are going to end up single in the end, as they are likely to outlive their other half, and their 80s and 90s is no time to discover that they haven't a clue how to run this fundamental aspect of life.
This study held a glimmer of hope for future generations. They found that 57% of those aged 16-24 share the burden of managing the household finances between the genders, so there's a sign of progress.
If they don't fall into this group, however, it's up to women to take control of their financial future before it's too late.
The question is whether women will. Is it too late, is it something they can live quite happily without ever understanding, or will opting out of financial decisions come back to haunt women? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
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