This presentation by Sue Lewis was made at the High-level Global Symposium on Financial Education: Promoting Long-term Savings and Investments in Korea which explored policies and good practices for supporting long-term savings and investments through financial education and financial consumer protection. Find out more at http://www.oecd.org/daf/fin/financial-education/globalsymposiumonfinancialeducationforlong-termsavingsandinvestments.htm

1. Sue Lewis
Consultant
Chair, UK Financial Services Consumer Panel
High-level Global Symposium on Financial Education
26-27 February 2014, Seoul, Korea
1
Long-term Savings and Investments:
Supporting Women’s Choices

2.  Women are less likely to hold financial products
 Lower levels of financial knowledge than men, even
after allowing for socioeconomic factors
 They are also:
 Less confident about their financial knowledge than
men
 Less interested in financial matters
 Less likely to compare financial products or gather
information from independent sources
2
Financial literacy: some gender differences

3.  Shorter financial time horizon
 More likely to keep a close eye on day-to-
day spending
 More likely to save for short-term goals
 Less likely to make long-term financial plans
 Save smaller amounts
 Save informally
 Risk-averse
3
Women and saving

4.  Reduced participation in the economy
 Imbalance of economic power within households
 Less ability to pass on financial ‘know how’ to
children
 More vulnerable to sudden shocks – eg divorce
 Lower levels of asset accumulation
 Vulnerable to poverty in retirement
4
Consequences of gender differences

5. 5
Programmes aimed at women: policy
goals
Policy goals
Developing entrepreneurship skills
Increasing financial inclusion, use of formal savings
Developing product-choosing skills
Supporting planning for retirement
Avoiding problem debt

6. Men Women
Occupational pension 44% 35%
Personal pension 18% 10%
Stock and shares 18% 10%
Stocks and shares ISA 17% 11%
Women and Pensions Report. Scottish Widows. October 2013 6
Women and long term savings: a
snapshot from the UK

7.  Gender pay gap – 25% + smaller bonuses
 Fragmented work patterns
 More ‘rainy day’ savings, spend more on children
 Complexity and confusion:
7
Why the differences?
Men Women
Not saving because don’t understand pensions 7% 15%
Don’t know what an annuity is 47% 59%
Don’t know what type of private pension they hold 13% 24%
Unsure of employer contribution 38% 51%

8.  76% worried about adequate standard of living in
retirement
 Over half made no changes to retirement plans
 71% not confident making retirement savings decisions
 Half did not know where to go for information
 74% did not know how much state pension they would get;
36% did not know when it would be paid
 57% didn’t know if they have made enough NI
contributions
 38% did not know what their private pension would pay, or
where to get information about it
Pensions Advisory Service, January 2014 8
Women and pensions survey

9.  General:
 Compulsory financial education in schools
 Need to ensure girls are engaged
 Pensions autoenrolment
 Problem of ‘small pots’, choosing an annuity
 Gender specific:
 Money Advice Service – Parents’ Guide to Money
 The Pensions Advisory Service – Pensions Guide for
Women, dedicated helpline
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Policy responses

10.  Start early – ideally in school
 Integrate with other approaches to
empowerment
 Learning environment – mutually
supportive
 Minimise use of jargon
 Role models – ‘people like me’
10
Women and financial education,
some principles and good practice

11. Hung, A., J. Yoong and E. Brown (2012), "Empowering
Women Through Financial Awareness and Education",
OECD Working Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private
Pensions, No. 14, OECD Publishing.
Women and Financial Education, Evidence, Policy
Responses and Guidance. OECD (2013).
Lewis, S. and F. Messy (2012), "Financial Education,
Savings and Investments: An Overview", OECD Working
Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions, No.
22, OECD Publishing.
Available: www.financial-education.org
11
References