Why women lag behind men when it comes to investing: A look at Hesse

Why women lag behind men when it comes to investing: A look at Hesse

Current studies show that women in Hesse invest less frequently in the stock market than men. While almost 30 percent of women are active on the stock market, the number of men is twice as high. This emerges from the “Hessenmonitor Financial Competence”, a study by the Leibniz Institute for Financial Market Research SAFE, which was commissioned by the Hessian Ministry of Finance. The survey examined the financial beliefs of nearly 500 young adults between the ages of 18 and 35, identifying basic financial literacy as a key key to greater independence.

Many women choose to park excess money in their accounts rather than investing it in stocks or other financial products. Christine Laudenbach, professor at the Leibniz Institute, sees social conditioning as a key factor in this reluctance. While fathers talk more often about money with their sons, the topic often goes unaddressed when it comes to daughters. This leads to young women being more skeptical about their financial knowledge and performing worse on financial matters than their male peers.

Financial education for women

In order to counteract this trend, initiatives such as the Frankfurt Finance Club’s “Women in Business” are of great importance. The initiative, led by Clara Bourassin, aims to support and increase the visibility of women in finance. In addition, the SheLeads community was brought to Frankfurt to actively promote and support young women in their careers.

Another worrying finding from the survey shows that women often have less income to spend, which negatively impacts their investment opportunities. The initiatives aim to encourage women to invest actively instead of sticking exclusively to traditional forms of savings. The Hessenmonitor highlights the importance of financial education, as over 60 percent of non-investors don't know anyone who is active in the stock market.

Create awareness of financial independence

Young adults are often caught between money worries and the desire for financial freedom. 33 percent of those surveyed said they were regularly under financial stress. These stresses also influence life decisions, which is why many say they have forgone certain decisions due to financial restrictions. Over 40 percent of respondents are involved in the stock market, which is an all-time high, but financial inequality between men and women remains alarming.

The study results also show that 87 percent of those surveyed consider saving to be essential, while more than half regularly put money aside. Nevertheless, 38 percent of those surveyed find the stock market to be complicated. Laudenbach emphasizes that women are often more patient when investing and behave more sustainably, which can lead to lower costs in the long term.

Finally, it is important to mention that Hesse is planning measures to strengthen the financial literacy of young people this year. Schools should teach basic skills in dealing with money. The Hessenmonitor highlights the need for financial education as a task for society as a whole and signals that Germany as a whole should take on a pioneering role in the area of ​​financial literacy. For more information on this topic please visit hessenschau.de and finanzen.hessen.de.