Canadian Women and Money in 6 Stats

A short but impactful piece for you today, Money Talks readers! We’re currently running a contest for International Women’s Day that’s asking people to recognize a woman in their life that taught them an important financial lesson. This is because women are instrumental when it comes to teaching financial literacy. It might be your mom, your sister, an old teacher, a celebrity or even a fictional character, but there’s a great chance that you gained some valuable financial knowledge from a woman in your life.

International Women’s Day is March 8 - one week from the date we’re publishing today’s piece. In that light, we’ve gathered 6 stats that highlight some of the different dynamics involving Canadian women and money. We feel they exemplify not only why it’s so important for women to strive for financial independence, but also how amazing and selfless Canadian women are when it comes to money and caring for the people around them.

1. Between 1998 and 2018, Canadian women earned $0.87 for every dollar earned by Canadian men.

This is an incredibly important point to remember when considering financial matters from a Canadian woman’s perspective. In our country, women still often earn less than men, regardless of whether or not they’re as equally talented as their male counterparts. However, it’s not as though women get a discount on the cost of living because of their gender – they face the same pressure to pay the bills as their male co-workers, but with less income to do so.

2. 90% of Canadian women will have to be the sole financial decision maker for themselves or their household at some point in their life.

We’ve been featuring this stat as we promote our International Women’s Day contest, and for good reason. Any time 90% of a group is doing something, it should be paid attention to! This stat really backs up how much of an impact our first stat, the wage gap, has. The vast majority of women will have to make choices for themselves or their family using what income they earn. That means it's ultra important for Canadian women to seek out financial education where they can – by nature of earning less income, most women will have to be smarter than the average man about how they allocate their resources.

3. 44% of Canadian women are more concerned with preserving capital and making predictable returns than trying to achieve higher rates of return.

In general, Canadian women approach personal finance with a much more conservative attitude than Canadian men. Whereas men are more interested in investments that are high risk/high reward, women are more likely to choose investments that yield steady results on a long-term basis. On one hand, you can see this as being an intrinsically smart choice - in theory, a steady return creates financial stability.

However, there’s something missing in this picture. It’s reported that only 10% of Canadian women feel very knowledgeable about investing, and only 15% feel the same about retirement planning. So, while conservative financial decision-making can help foster long-term security, it also might point to a lack of confidence when it comes to financial management. For many people (not just women), it’s tough to do something boldly if you feel you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s a great reminder for women who are interested in getting into investing to seek out education on it wherever they can, and that when it comes time to invest, to consider taking on some riskier bets now and again.

4. 1 in 3 Canadian women say they’ve made a financial sacrifice, such as leaving their job or stopping saving, in order to care for children or an aging relative.

Another multi-faceted stat to consider. According to a study by CIBC, as many as 7 in 10 Canadian women make significant financial sacrifices, including putting their careers on hold, to care for their loved ones. The reality here is that most women wouldn’t choose to do so if they didn’t have to. Not every household can afford to pay for third-party care for their children or their senior relatives, so when a need arises, it forces the outcome. If a woman goes from earning a steady source of income to earning little to nothing, they face a major disadvantage in terms of preparing for retirement and maintaining a financial safety net for their household.

It’s also fair to consider that if a dual-income, heteronormative household is forced to make such a choice, they might elect to have the female partner make the sacrifice and stop working. In theory, the male partner is probably earning a higher salary, meaning the household would need him to keep working if a choice must be made. In that light though, this stat ultimately points to a clear need for wage equality and greater support for working women from their employers and the government. If Canadian women were able to access a greater degree of assistance to help them care for their loved ones (like affordable care) or if they were earning as much as their male counterparts, more would be able to stay employed and maintain their financial independence.

5. Moms with school-age children are the demographic that still has the largest disparity between pre/post-COVID labour participation rates.

As an extension of our above stat, this one exemplifies that young moms have faced an extremely difficult dilemma over the past year. When lockdowns were first enforced across the country, thousands of households lost their main source of childcare from Monday to Friday; that is, the school system. So many Canadian moms were forced to make a difficult choice between keeping their full-time jobs or being at home to take care of their kids. Keep in mind how sudden the change from pre-pandemic life to lockdown was - no one was prepared in advance.

Despite it being a tough call, closing schools was important to ensure the safety of everyone involved and to slow the spread of the virus. But, our economy’s recovery as a whole depends heavily on women getting back to work.

6. 56% of female investors are willing to take lower returns on investment from a company that has a positive social impact.

Finally, this is an incredible stat, and one that really points to the impressive character of Canadian women. Conversely, women are also less likely to invest in companies that create products that might be seen as harmful to society (for example, a weapons manufacturer). This highlights the fact that many women see the social, environmental and political impacts of their investment as just as important (or even more important) than their profit margins. This is the kind of attitude we really need more of in our country - profiting from your investments is important, but so is the broader impact of that investment. Creating an economy that’s more inclusive, more environmentally friendly and more resilient depends on Canadian women getting involved.

✨ Hey you! We’re running a contest for International Women’s Day right now. We’ve got $10,000+ in cash prizes to be won, plus some amazing products from our Canadian small business sponsors. Join us as we celebrate Canadian women’s contributions to financial literacy in our country - you might win big for it! For more information, click here.

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