The Importance of Financial Independence in Women Empowerment
By: Hima Mouli
Tags: Women Empowerment, Social Change, Economics, Financial Inclusion

In the words of India’s first and only Nobel Laureate for Economics, Amartya Sen, “Empowering women is key to building a future we want.” The patriarchy of economics takes place around us to such an extent that often we barely even notice its inherent sexism, let alone question it. How many ‘funny’ WhatsApp forwards and magazine jokes do we come across daily that stereotype wives as the spendthrifts? How many jewelry ads and movie clips do we see that paint a picture of women flocking at showrooms, while their husbands, who always pay the bill, sigh in the background? And even if someone does question this internalized dynamic of finance being a predominantly male domain, how often are we fed excuses of so-called ‘balance of power’ in the family.

According to an article from ‘Outlook India’, “Today, only 64% of women globally have access to an account in a financial institution, compared to about 71% of men.” Another article published in ‘The Hindu’, examined this statistic within India and said this, “The 2018 report by the World Economic Forum shows a 66% gender gap in India, in terms of economic participation.” In a country that claims to worship women and prioritize their empowerment, we seem to lag embarrassingly far behind the global average.

But let alone the vision for financial independence, even financial literacy is still a major work in progress, world wide. A quote from an interview published in the ‘Business Today’ journal goes as follows, “Data from the 2017 Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center study on the gender gap in financial literacy showed that only 20% of women understood financial concepts (a lag of 8% compared to men). The gap was wider in more developed countries where the overall financial literacy was high. For example, 70% of women in Canada are financially literate but lag men by 17%.”

Financial literacy and independence among women comes as an essential issue to be addressed in the struggle for gender equality because it doesn’t just affect the women who are put in a position of permanent dependence and lack of self-actualization or self-stability but it also affects the women who do actually earn their own living and are economically independent. These statistics clearly indicate the dire lack of participation of women in the economy. How can we hope to reduce the gender gap and break that glass ceiling if we allow half our population to be represented in such small numbers?

This kind of minimal engagement with finances is especially seen in investments. Investing, whether it be specific schemes in banks, government bonds, chit funds, or even the stock market, continues to be one among the most male-dominated fields in the world. This kind of demographic not only lays the base for large-scale corporate sexual harassment, but it also feeds into patriarchal notions about women being incapable when it comes to investing and financial management. Sallie Krawcheck, CEO of Ellevest, an investment platform that promotes investment among women, had this to say in an interview,

“We blamed women for it for so long. Women didn’t invest as much as men, therefore the reason is that women are risk-averse. There are many articles on it, it is absolutely orthodox…… We are socialized that we are not good with money, that we have to be careful, and that financial planning is difficult- we’re told money is beyond us. Being bad with money is still viewed as a female characteristic…..If we can’t talk about money, how do you know what raise to ask for? How do you know what to invest?”

The problem becomes even graver when we look at the possible repercussions on the lives of financially dependent women when they are put in adverse situations such as divorce, abusive relationships, or the death of the male breadwinner of the family. How does a woman who had hitherto no knowledge of finance be able to support herself and avoid being taken advantage of by commission-seeking financial agents? Statistically, the life expectancy of a woman is far more than that of a man. Then how do we justify the lack of financial literacy and planning or the meager pension schemes meted out for women in the highly-likely event of their having to take care of themselves?

The struggle for economic security and equal opportunity for women is a continuous struggle worldwide, and India in particular has a very long way to go in this regard. The need for it is present in the everyday phrase that women are most often put in a position of using when faced with a financial enquiry or situation, “I’ll have to as my father/husband/son about it.” As Michelle Obama once said, “Every girl, no matter where she lives, deserves the opportunity to develop the promise inside of her.”

Links for articles and interview citations listed below:-

https://www.outlookindia.com/outlookmoney/finance/financially-independent-women-create-an-evolved-and-equitable-society-4471

https://www.thehindu.com/business/why-women-need-financial-planning/article29865628.ece

https://journal.businesstoday.org/bt-online/2019/the-era-of-womens-financial-independence

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