Women Aren't Doing It for Themselves

13th May 2014

- Spending on the children: Men more likely to spend secretly on personal gadgets and nights out, whereas women hide spending on the kids

- Giving up careers: Women are much more likely to give up or make changes to their career than men to raise children.

- Sticking around: Women are seven times more likely than men to stay with their partner for too long due to financial worries.

- Missing out: Following a breakup, women find themselves with less disposable income and higher daily living expenses

Men and women have dramatically different approaches to their money and careers, according to research from investment management service, Nutmeg - and it appears women may not be taking as much care of their financial futures as men.

The research reveals that mums are over six times more likely to give up or make changes to their career† in order to raise children than dads, while their partner continues to work (8% of men vs. 49% of women). And a fifth (21%) of women who have made career changes to raise children believe they would now be earning more than their partner if they hadn't had to do so. This could also be the reason that women in relationships are far less likely to have a retirement savings plan at all, compared to their male partners (24% of women vs. 14% of men).

Meanwhile, women who have been divorced or separated are seven times more likely to stay in a failing relationship due to financial concerns (20% of women).†† Even once a relationship does end, women who have been divorced or separated tend to be more likely to be worse off financially than men. They are more likely to see an increase in daily living expenses (27% of women), and are much more likely to find themselves with less disposable income (51% of women) after a breakup.

Two fifths (42%) of UK adults acknowledge that they have shared responsibility for their household finances. However, there are still fundamental differences in how couples approach money. For instance, women who hide their savings are more likely to do so in fear their partner will spend them (30% of women vs. 24% of men).

While men and women both secretly spend on themselves, men are more likely to shell out secretly for personal luxuries such as nights out (22% of men versus 4% of women) and personal gadgets (29% of men versus 6% of women). By comparison, women tend to spend secretly on clothes and continue to demonstrate a commitment to their families by spending secretly on items for their children (29% of women vs. 6% of men)

Nick Hungerford, chief executive of Nutmeg comments: “There are clearly a lot of differences between the sexes when it comes to money management. In addition to the research carried out, we see significant differences in the financial profiles of our male and female customers too. For example, women tend to be more risk averse. Across our range of 10 risk-based models, a much higher proportion of our male customers have high risk portfolios than our female customers.

But, whatever our marital status, financial situation or attitude to risk, it's crucial we all have robust plans for our long-term financial futures. These days it's becoming easier and quicker to take ownership of our savings and investments. You can do it all online, set up a professional portfolio in a matter of minutes and have an expert investment team manage your money for you, all for a very low cost.”