Having good financial health and following proper financial habits is very important. While men have traditionally been considered the breadwinners in the family, women are continuing to take on an increasing role in earning money. However, old stereotypes and traditions are continuing to have an impact on the finances earned by both men and women. Your overall financial health can be impacted by your gender in a variety of different ways.
Gender Breadwinner Trends
One of the biggest changes and trends that people are seeing in the overall global economy is the rise in the amount of women that are the breadwinners in married families. Over the past 25 years, the percentage of women that earn more than their husbands has increased from around 12% to nearly 30%. This is a very dramatic increase that continues to be heading in that direction.
Societal Expectations
While women are continuing to earn more money on average, the societal expectations about who should be the financial support system do not appear to be changing as quickly. As recently as 2017, a poll as taken that stated that nearly 71% of people believe that supporting a family financially is a job for the men. In the same study, only 30% of people believed that this would be a responsibility of women. This expectation appears to start well before marriage as well. The same study found that the overwhelming amount of people believed that paying for a date early in courtship should continue to be the responsibility of men.
Impact on Relationships
While most relationships still show that the men are the leading wage earners, the change in this is having a negative impact on people’s relationships. While women are continuing to do well, men that either doesn’t work or earn less can feel like they are contributing less to the relationship. Because of this, some women are less likely to want to pursue new opportunities that could lead to higher income. They are also less likely to boast about their income or inflate it. In fact, a recent study found that men will inflate their income by more than three percent for census takers while women will hardly inflate their incomes at all.
Conclusion
These continued changes in income for each gender are going to continue to alter the economy in years to come. This could also have an impact on investment strategies as women are less likely to take bold investment risks than men. Because of this, it would be wise for all people to continue to be honest about their income, financial goals, and investment strategies. It would also help to meet with financial planners to discuss options for how to invest for the future.
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