Chapter 5: Attitudes of Women to Assets and Asset Accumulation

This chapter focuses on responses to attitudinal questions regarding women’s
financial independence and security in later life. It considers attitudes to housing as
an investment, making financial provision for retirement, and willingness to utilise
their housing assets as a means of paying for care in later life.
The women in the survey were presented with three statements and asked to pickthose that corresponded with their feelings about their own views:
Statement 1: I would be happy to sell all or part of my property to pay for care in oldage
Statement 2: I know I should make better financial provision for retirement, but it’sdifficult to know what to do for the best
Statement 3: Investing in property is the best way of ensuring my financial
independence
They were given the opportunity to respond in the following ways: tend to agree /disagree; strongly agree / disagree; neither; don’t know / not applicable.
Statement 1: I would be happy to sell all or part of my property to pay for carein old age
Of the sample of 1004 British respondents to this question, 20 per cent either stronglyagreed or tended to agree with the statement.

However, the vast majority ofrespondents (56 per cent) either tended to disagree or strongly disagree with thestatement. This was a consistent finding across all variables (for example, marital
status, ethnicity, social class, tenure, income, with or without children), whichsuggests the purpose of housing asset accumulation is not necessarily for their own
use. This corresponds with the finding of Rowlingson and MaKay's (2005) survey on
inheritance about strong support for the concept, with 85 per cent of the generalpublic saying that they would like to be able to leave a bequest. Table 5.1 shows－ 33 －

responses by age and indicates disagreement with the statement across all age groups
with the majority of respondents in all age groups strongly disagreeing. In particular,significantly high percentages of the older respondents (45-54 years) disagreed (62%in total). This coincides with the popular debate in contemporary Britain (Englandand Wales – Scotland has a different policy) regarding the financial responsibility oflong-term care. The public is in general opposed to the current policy that those whohave assets – including housing assets – over £18,500 have to meet the personal carecost from their own pocket. Under the current policy, the necessity to sell a home –accumulated assets – in order to move into residential or nursing homes has been thesource of considerable public and popular concern, and the strong disagreement
among the respondents may be coming from this policy debate.
Table 5.1: Responses to Statement 1 by age in Britain (%)
25-34
35-44
45-54

Strongly Tend toagreeagree
418513516

Neither
973

Tend to Strongly
disagree disagree
2230
2136
1745

Table 5.2: Responses to Statement 1 by age in Japan (%)
25-34
35-44
45-54

Strongly Tend toagree
agree
820
825
1125

Neither
181612

Tend to Strongly
disagree disagree
20
724
623
8On the other hand, the Japanese responses painted a rather different picture. Perhaps
reflecting the cultural norm, there was a minority of respondents who expressedstrong opinions (either strongly agree or strongly disagree), while the majority (40 percent on average) had no opinion and answered ‘neither agree or disagree’ or ‘don’tknow’. The responses were split almost evenly between agreeing and disagreeing,
which made analysis difficult to conclude. This may have been a reflection of not
owning their own property and thus the women hesitated to comment on the statement.
If we look at the responses by employment status, the professional class (with theirown financial means) were more likely to agree on the statement (37 per cent in total)reflecting their greater financial independence.

－ 34 －

Statement 2: I know I should make better financial provision for retirement, but
it’s difficult to know what to do for the best
Only 20 per cent of respondents tended to disagree (13 per cent) or strongly disagree(seven per cent) with this statement in Britain. The overwhelming majority (68 percent) either tended to agree or strongly agreed with the statement. The lack ofinformation or reliable advice available or the lack of access to appropriate andquality information may hinder the women’s financial planning. While the proportionof respondents who stated that they tended to agree with the statement was fairly
consistent across all age groups, among those who responded that they strongly
agreed there was variation between the age groups (Table 5.3).

Of those aged

between 35 and 44, 27 per cent strongly agreed, compared to 24 per cent for those
aged between 25 and 34 and 19 per cent for those aged between 45 and 54 years old.
Those who tended to disagree with the statement were most likely to be in the older
age group (45-54 years) and least likely to be in the middle age group (35-44 years).
Those in the older age group were also most likely to strongly disagree with thestatement (nine per cent), compared to six per cent of those in the 35-44 age groupand five per cent in the 25-34 age group. The Japanese responses show the similar
patterns which the majority of the women agreeing with the statement (Table 5.4).
Across age groups, the older age group (45-54 years) appeared to be more confident
with their financial planning comparing to their younger counterparts.
Table 5.3: Responses to Statement 2 by age in Britain (%)
25-34
35-44
45-54

Strongly Tend toagreeagree244527451941

Neither
12910

Tend to Strongly
disagree disagree
11596199Table 5.4: Responses to Statement 2 by age in Japan (%)
25-34
35-44
45-54

Strongly Tend toagreeagree
2436
2341
2333

Neither
131613

Tend to Strongly
disagree disagree
6281131－ 35 －In addition to age, class and tenure were influential factors in relation to attitudes of
the respondents in Britain. Of those in social class DE 78 per cent tended to agree (50per cent) or strongly agree (28 per cent) with the statement compared to 55 per cent insocial class AB. Of those in social rented housing, 78 per cent either tended to agree(47 per cent) or strongly agreed (31 per cent), and for those renting from a private
landlord 76 per cent either tended to agree (48 per cent) or strongly agree (28 percent). In comparison, while those who owned a property outright or who had amortgaged property were most likely to agree with the statement, they were also morethan twice as likely to tend to disagree and more than three times as likely to strongly
disagree with the statement than respondents in either the social or private rented
sector (Table 5.5). While in Japan, the private tenants were least likely to agree withthe statement (64 per cent), 25 per cent strongly agreeing and 39 per cent tend toagree with the statement (Table 5.6). An interesting and perhaps crucial point in thefindings is that there was no differentiated view expressed by the women with thedifferent ownership status. Those who lived in an owner-occupied house with theirhusband as a sole owner were not necessarily aware of their financial insecurity thanthose who had their name in the ownership deed.
Table 5.5: Responses to Statement 2 by tenure in Britain (%)
Strongly Tend toagreeagree
1738
Own outright2143
Own with mortgage
2848
Rent from private landlords
3147
Rent from social landlords

Neither1210
13
10

Tend to Strongly
disagree disagree
15
1115
96
2
6
3

Don'tknow
7
1
1
3

Table 5.6: Responses to Statement 2 by tenure in Japan (%)
Owner occupation(own/joint)
Owner occupation(husband's name)Rent from private
landlords
Rent from publiclandlordsStronglyagree

Tend toagree

Neither

Tend to Strongly
disagree disagree

Don’tknow

26311890.5

1521381490.8

1725

39

1072181831176129

Marital status is another indicator to measure the women’s financial planning andawareness. In Britain, married or co-habiting respondents were less agreeing with the－ 36 －

statement compared to their divorced or widowed counterparts. Having a partner may
have enhanced their access to financial information and thus planning. The Japanese
responses however showed the opposite trend – married women agreed more with thestatement compared with their divorced or widowed counterparts. This coincides
with the general findings of the report that married women in Japan had lessawareness of their own financial position and took less action on their own financial
planning.
Table 5.7: Responses to Statement 2 by marital status in Britain (%)
Married / co-habiting
SingleDivorced / widowed /separated

Strongly
agree
2228

Tend toagree
4442

Neither
1110

Tend todisagree
158

Strongly
disagree
6928

46

1078

Table 5.8: Responses to Statement 2 by marital status in Japan (%)
MarriedSingle (never married)
Divorced
WidowedStronglyagree
24212314

Tend toagree
37
38
2836

Neither
141313
5

Tend todisagree
9713
14Strongly
disagree
1230

Statement 3: Investing in property is the best way of ensuring my financial
independence
The overwhelming majority of respondents to this question either tended to agree (39per cent) or strongly agree (26 per cent) with the statement, with only five per centstrongly disagreeing and nine per cent tending to disagree in Britain. However, there
was a marked difference in attitude between tenure groups. Seventy-two per cent ofoutright owners and 71 per cent of those holding a mortgage agreed with thestatement, compared to 46 per cent of those renting from a social landlord and 57 percent of those renting from a private landlord. Those renting from a social landlord
were most likely to disagree with the statement (21 per cent). However, it was also
the case that 17 per cent of respondents renting from a social landlord considered thequestion did not apply to them or did not know, with 11 per cent of private renters－ 37 －responding the same way. Only two per cent of outright owners and another two percent of those with a mortgage responded in this way.
Table 5.9: Responses to Statement 3 by tenure in Britain (%)
Strongly Tend toagree
agree
34
38
Own outright29
43
Own with mortgage
25
32
Rent from private landlords
1729
Rent from social landlords

Neither1214
17
16

Tend to Strongly
disagree disagree
9584
93
12
9Don'tknow
221117The Japanese data show contrasting responses. The majority either tended to disagree(33 per cent) or strongly disagreed (six per cent) with the statement. The older therespondents were, the more likely they disagreed with the statement. Forty-five percent of the older age group (45-54 years) disagreed while 33 per cent of the younger
age group (25-34 years) did so. This may be due to the housing price deflation since
the economic bubble burst in the early 1990s; or it may be due to the cultural normthat housing is not considered as a tradable ‘commodity’. Also, the women did notconsider housing as a means of their own economic independence since the vast
majority of owner-occupied houses (which the women lived in) were owned by theirhusband or other family members. The customary idea such as ‘housing being family
assets’ may be embedded in the mind of older people more. In terms of tenure, there
was a marked difference in attitude between tenure groups similar to the British data
(Table 5.10). Owner-occupiers agreed with the statement more than those renting
either from a social or private landlord. In particular, those women who had theirown name in the ownership agreed with the statement perhaps reflecting their own
investment in housing.
Table 5.10: Responses to Statement 3 by tenure in Japan (%)
Strongly Tend toTend to Stronglyagree
agree Neither disagree disagree
Owner occupation(own/joint)
Owner occupation(husband's name)Rent from private landlords
Rent from public landlords

Don’tknow

524

23

30

810

44816
17823
2228

34
35
32

75216
18
23－ 38 －