Since Spain was allowed to open a checking account in her own name at the end of the 1970s without marital authorization, women have advanced by leaps and bounds in the conquest of their financial freedom, although this gender gap is still open . This is clear from a study that concludes that although 75% of women consider themselves independent in this economic field, the majority of those who say they are not (66%) have the impression that they will never achieve it.
"The objective is to overcome this barrier and ensure that they are effectively independent", commented Paloma Real, general director of Mastercard Spain, during the presentation of the Women and Finance study, commissioned by the multinational from Alpha Research and carried out in 12 European countries, between them Spain, with the objective of analyzing the economic independence of women, their relationship with money and finances, as well as the use they make of technologies to manage themselves economically.
One of the main positive readings that is extracted from the survey is that the majority assures that they are economically self-sufficient, although there is a 24.5% that recognizes that they need the financial support of another person to be able to survive. And most women in this situation believe that they will never achieve financial independence. "It is a piece of information that is especially worrying because I believe that women's liberation is basically being economically independent," declared Carmen María García, president of the Madrid Woman's Week Foundation.
Another significant fact is that the majority (55%) consider that women are less financially independent than men because they are the ones who tend to take on unpaid jobs, have more modest incomes, decide to be full-time mothers, and abandon their professional career. or they decide to depend economically on someone -this last case represents 11% of the answers-.
Despite this, the majority of women in Spain (74%) see achieving financial independence as a priority. "The independence of women and their empowerment is closely linked to that personal development and that ability to be able to choose and do the things that we really like and follow our destiny, which is something that we all aspire to regardless of our gender", has argued Real.
However, the salary gap does not help to achieve this objective. The National Institute of Statistics (INE) estimates that men earn 5,175.52 euros per year more than women. The latest annual salary structure survey -from 2020- concludes that the average earnings for men is 27,643 euros and for women, 22,467 euros. Therefore, the average annual salary for women represents 81.3% of that for men.
Although women on average receive more modest salaries than men, very often they contribute in the same proportion to cover household expenses, according to the survey. Thus, half of the respondents between the ages of 25 and 39 indicate that they share the expenses equally with their partner, while 23% affirm that another person assumes most of the expenses, and only 16% assume them alone or mostly. A figure that rises to 32% in the age range between 60 and 75 years.
A situation that contrasts with that of previous generations in which it was the father of the family who was in charge of financially supporting the home. A trend that has been decreasing over time, as revealed by the study. "Many couples tend to have separate savings, and when contributions are made to the family, they are divided equally, neglecting that the woman usually has a lower salary because she is giving up a professional career so that the man can have his," argues the UOC Finance professor, Elisabet Ruiz-Dotras, author of various studies on financial literacy.
On the other hand, the study confirms the lack of financial literacy among the female population, something that previous reports already indicated, such as a 2016 Bank of Spain survey on financial skills that found that women responded less accurately to questions about financial knowledge. . In the Mastercard study, 58% of the interviewees admit that they have "very primary" knowledge in this field, while 11% declare that they have no knowledge. A percentage similar to that of countries in the European environment, such as France and Italy, where 18% of those surveyed claim to know nothing about finances. Real attributes the result to the discrimination that women have suffered in an educational, social, labor and economic environment. "But this trend is changing, and as there are more women who are financially independent or who are interested in achieving it, their culture and interest in financial issues increases," she explains.
Another aspect on which the survey investigates is how women spend money. 72% want to invest in experiences compared to 29% who would invest in products and material goods. But desire is one thing and reality is another, since the study indicates that the majority (81%) end up spending most of their money on housing, bills, gasoline or food.
On the other hand, the difficulty of accessing housing is probably behind the desire of 51% of women between 25 and 39 years of age to buy a house, which is in fact the biggest investment they would like to face. Percentage that drops to 39% in the case of the age group between 40 and 59 years. And it is precisely the large outlay involved in buying a flat that pushes 70% of women between the ages of 25 and 39 to save part of their salary, thus becoming the most thrifty age group. In this sense, it is worth mentioning that the age at which Spanish young people emancipate, according to Eurostat, is around 30 years on average.
"Women are concerned about all issues related to savings and financial planning, but they are aware that they are more risk averse and contracting investment products digitally costs them a little more", highlighted the bank card manager Santander, Elena Bermejo. Likewise, he underlined that the ability to save is closely related to the wage gap: "When we analyze this situation, the starting point is very similar between men and women (...), but as age progresses, it becomes start to open the gap."
