Women have been fighting for equality and struggling with unique financial challenges for decades. Providing employment opportunities for women and supporting their financial security is not only crucial to their personal and socioeconomic well-being, but it can also give an organization a significant edge over their competitors. In this article, we’ll discuss the importance of why companies with a large female workforce must have a financial wellness program.
Here are some statistics that show women face significantly different financial challenges and situations than men:
- Women live longer than men and therefore must save more for retirement while earning an average of 16% less due to the gender pay gap.
- Women also pay an average of $1,300 more a year on products and services just because of their gender, otherwise known as the “pink tax”.
- Women typically have different career paths than men, with many leaving the workforce to raise children or care for aging parents.
- What’s more, Fidelity reports that women are not confident when it comes to long-term planning and investing.
If that wasn’t enough, the pandemic and inflation has widened inequality and has disproportionately impacted women financially, placing them at an even greater disadvantage. Check out some recent pandemic data:
- Womens’ jobs are 1.8 times more vulnerable to the impact of Covid-19 than men, according to a study by McKinsey Global Institute.
- Society for Human Resource Management reports that 35% of working women say their financial health or situation has been affected by the pandemic, compared to 23% of men.
- Recent Experian research found that 24% of women have less savings and 17% have more debt since the start of the pandemic.
- The U.S. Employee Benefits Trends study found that women’s mental, physical, social, and financial health have significantly declined since April 2020, while men’s health in these areas has remained relatively unchanged.
How Employers Can Help Combat These Trends
Every female employee has different financial goals and is starting from a different stage in their financial wellness journey. With the additional pandemic stress, women lost more sleep which led to higher absenteeism and less productivity at work, hurting both the physical and emotional health of female employees. Women need individualized financial education and support to reach their distinct financial goals and overcome these unique financial challenges. In fact, financial wellness and education can reduce the gender savings gap by more than 50%, according to a 2017 study from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. That’s why companies with female workforce must have a financial wellness program. Having access to tailored money tools, personalized education, and unlimited one-on-one expert financial coaching in the workplace can help women reach financial success, reduce stress levels, and support gender equality.
Count on BrightDime to support your female employees financially. Contact us to learn more and get a personalized demo.
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