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Women's worth - Alison Steed, MyMoneyDiva.com

Women's worth

Women are ‘more financially important’ in relation to the household finances than ever before according to research from one of the insurance giants, Axa.

Thanks to more men than women being made redundant in the recent downturn, and a rise of more than a sixth in female employment, predictions are that by 2030 one in four women will be the main breadwinner in homes.

The average pay gap is also diminishing, although women are still being paid more than a fifth less than their male counterparts for doing the same work if you read the official statistics.

Now I find this information, in a way, slightly patronising. I can see what the point is, that more women are expected to be the main breadwinner in a home in the next 20 years. But really, does Axa seriously think that women have not been the ones controlling the purchasing decisions and spending habits of the family for all these years? Come on!

How many of us can remember our mum being the one who dealt with the household budget? More importantly, how many of us can remember our mums, or girlfriends, or sisters, having more say over everything in the household finance arena from the colour and type of the family car, to how much money is going to be spent down the pub on a Friday night.

If you look at the marketing information, women actually make between 80 per cent and 95 per cent of all buying decisions – depending on the research you look at. According to the National Federation of Women Business Owners, they make 75 per cent of decisions about buying new homes, and 81 per cent of decisions about groceries.

So, to say that women are becoming ‘more financially important’ seems to miss the point slightly.
However, the one thing none of us seems very good at is protecting ourselves and our families. Working mums, when you take into account all the unpaid work they do at home, earn an average of £45,000 a year. Those without an earning job are still worth around £23,000 a year to the household – this is what it would cost to replace someone to do all the jobs done by a mum.

Yet an astonishingly small number of women – less than a fifth – protect themselves from critical illnesses, and just over a third have life insurance. So if they were to get ill or die, their family would really be left in the lurch.

The average life insurance policy with critical illness cover will provide cover for around £90,000 – the equivalent of two years’ worth of a working mum’s earnings and time.

If you think there is no need for cover, think again. Axa’s stats show that one in 10 women taking this type of cover will either suffer an illness or die, resulting in a claim. That money can help their families at their time of greatest need.

So if you haven’t thought about it before, think about it now. Come on girls, you are worth a lot more than you might think.

Alison Steed

Alison Steed is the editor and co-founder of the personal finance website for women MyMoneyDiva.com

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