The subject of women and money still has many stereotypes and prejudices associated with them. Especially in Indian society, large sections of women still are made to depend on their family members, particularly the males, in regard to finances.
Women in the country, while surely progressing slowly but steadily, still have some way to go in regard to complete financial freedom. However, in an optimistic turn, it seems that development is being made with a recent study looking at the Indian women and their relationship with money and financial independence.
What Does The Study Say?
DBS Bank India, in partnership with CRISIL surveyed over 800 women across 10 cities in India from ages 25 and above in order to understand how Indian women manage, plan and classify their money.
The study titled ‘Women and Finance’ encompasses several reports where women, both salaried and self-employed were surveyed on various topics to get a better understanding of the financial preferences of Indian women.
The women selected for the survey had incomes starting from Rs. 10 lakh per annum mark and went upward from there.
DBS Bank India MD & CEO Surojit Shome said “Given that the current participation of women in the Indian labour force is just 37% and the gender pay gap is not decreasing fast enough, insights from this study will have implications for policymaking, the financial sector, and society at large.”
Prashant Joshi, Managing Director and Head of Consumer Banking Group, DBS Bank India, commented on the survey “The insights from the survey highlight the importance of financial stability in the aspirations of independent female earners across India.
Ownership of financial decision making, diverse investment and borrowing choices and growing adoption of digital channels are all evidence that the modern Indian woman is not just a participant, but a planner of her journey.”
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He further added, “The DBS Women and Finance study is a step forward in the much-needed movement to a more equitable financial playing field and it underlines our commitment to enabling all customers to ‘Live more, Bank less’.”
The report revealed that factors like age, income, marital status, presence of dependants and home location all have a hand in influencing the financial behaviour of women.
But among this, one thing that stood out was how women over 45 years of age came out as the highest number when it comes to autonomously managing their finances. Standing at an impressive 65% in making independent financial choices as compared to women in the age group of 25-35 years only 41%.
The study also believes that an increase in income directly impacts decision-making autonomy as it saw that women who were either over 45 years old or earning more than Rs. 40 lakh per annum had more financial freedom.
Women who have an earning of more than Rs. 10 lakh per annum experiencing financial independence was 47% while only 41% of those between 25-35 and with a lower income than Rs. 10 lakh p/a.
In terms of income, the survey pointed out that the affluent category comprising 58% of the women who have an income of Rs. 41-55 lakh p/a are known to have control over their financial decisions which is much higher compared to only 38% of women with an income of Rs. 10-25 lakh coming in the semi–affluent category.
The reason for this is that women in the affluent category are more literate in financial matters and also have easier access to resources. Whereas the age category reasons that women higher in age have more experience and a better understanding of financial products.
Overall though, aound 47% of them were seen to be making independent financial decisions, which is a positive sign of the growing financial autonomy Indian women are exercising now.
Another interesting find was that retirement planning is also being seen as a consideration for the first time among women between the age gap of 35-45 years.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Economic Times
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This post is tagged under: employment, female, formal sector, gender pay gap, Gender Divide, women empowerment, working women, finance, indian women, indian women finance, indian women financial freedom, financial freedom, women, women in india
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
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