What Is the State of Women & Money in 2024?
Women have been making major strides in the world of personal finance. A recent LendingTree analysis found that single women now own more homes than single men. And Fortune reported that women CEOs now run more than 10% of the Fortune 500 companies. Still, the gender pay gap persists and women continue to be less likely to invest than men — even though data has shown that they tend to be better investors.
To get a complete look at women’s financial standing in 2024, GOBankingRates surveyed over 1,000 American adults who identify as female about their financial obstacles and goals, and attitudes about money. Here’s a look at what we found.
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Key Findings
Women are more likely than ever to run their household’s finances. 59% of non-single women are in charge of making household financial decisions, and an additional 31% make financial decisions with their partners. That marks an increase from 2023, when 48% of women in couples said they run household finances, and 37% said they make decisions together.
Women are focused on paying off debt. 27% said this is their primary financial goal, while 26% said they are focused on covering basic expenses.
Most women (53%) are not actively investing. Among those who are not, 37% cite lack of money as their biggest obstacle.
Many women are debt-free. 63% of women do not have student loan debt and 40% do not have credit card debt.
More than half of women (56%) do not consider themselves financially stable.
The most common bad money habit among women is impulse shopping. 21% said they are guilty of this behavior.
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Women’s Primary Financial Goal Is Paying Off Debt
Over the past year, women’s financial priorities have shifted slightly. In 2023, the largest proportion of women (26%) said their primary financial goal was covering basic expenses. Now, the largest proportion (27%) said their primary goal is paying off debt, with covering basic expenses coming in at a very close second (26%).
More than half of women (53%) said that a lack of money is the biggest obstacle to reaching their financial goals. Additionally, just under half of the women surveyed (44%) cite inflation/not being able to afford everyday expenses as their biggest financial stressor. This is an increase from last year, when 39% of women said inflation was their biggest source of money stress.
Most Women Are Not Actively Investing
The GOBankingRates survey found that 57% of women are not actively investing. When asked why they are not investing, one-third of women (37%) cited a lack of money.
The most popular investment vehicle among women is work-sponsored retirement plans (17%), followed by brokerage accounts (11%). Less than 10% utilize an IRA or investing app.
Many Women Don’t Have Debt
On a positive note, the survey found that the majority of women do not have student loan debt (63%) and 40% do not have credit card debt. And among those with debt, the amounts owed were generally on the lower end — 37% of women with student loan debt owe less than $10,000, and 50% of women with credit card debt owe less than $2,000.
Roughly a third of women (34%) cite the high cost of living as their biggest obstacle to paying off debt.
Most Women Think They Are Good With Money — but Admit to Bad Behaviors
When asked if they are bad with money, the majority (70%) said no. However, most women (56%) do not consider themselves financially stable, and many admit to having bad money habits: 21% admit to impulse shopping, 18% said they don’t have or don’t stick to a budget and 8% order food delivery too often.
As for their biggest financial regrets, the top regret is taking on credit card debt (25%) followed by not starting to save for retirement sooner (19%), not building an emergency fund (16%), not investing (8%), taking a low-paying job (8%) and not educating themselves on financial topics (7%).
Women Are in Charge of Household Financial Decisions
The survey found that 59% of non-single women are in charge of making household financial decisions, and an additional 31% make financial decisions with their partners.
In addition, 64% of women consider themselves to be financially independent — only 22% said they are reliant on a romantic partner and just 14% said they are reliant on a family member.
Despite this, 29% said they avoid thinking about or dealing with their finances, and 19% said they are fearful about making financial decisions because they are not confident in their ability to manage money.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: What Is the State of Women & Money in 2024?
