How comms can help close the gender savings gap

Overcoming this important issue involves solving the complexities around pay discrimination, divorce and family career breaks to improve women’s available income for saving.  

But another approach – changing the way we communicate about saving – is something employers, the financial services industry and the media can adopt to help change women’s perceptions and savings habits right now.

The way we talk about finances is instrumental in not only creating confidence, but also in providing the tools needed to make good decisions.

Not only are women often less confident at investing their money, but many face different savings priorities from men. The solution is taking the time to understand these gender-specific differences and incorporate them in a more inclusive approach to communication that is empowering and motivating.

Employers with existing or planned financial wellbeing programmes, in particular, should bear these communication issues in mind. Here are five ways you can improve the way you’re communicating:

Watch your language

Be aware of how men and women respond to messages about investment risk. For example, women are two-thirds more likely than men to invest with a lower expectation of growth. Use jargon-free language that is less focused on product details and risk profiles, and more on the positive outcomes in terms of individual and family benefits.

Offer help with life stage planning

Take the opportunity and use statutory communications to talk about family and life planning in the context of the figures they present – such as parental leave, pension sharing and career breaks.

Saving and investment: back to basics

Why not run a ‘what’s investing all about?’ or a ‘saving on a part-time income’ workshop for your employees? It may be targeted towards women, but you will likely see many male colleagues there, too.

Provide meaningful information about choosing an IFA

Studies show that women view advisers as ‘male, distant and lacking in empathy’, while only one in 20 independent financial advisors are female. Short of being able to up the number of female financial advisers available, you could offer tips on what to look for in an IFA and the questions to ask to ensure they are the right fit. You could also provide basic guidance on what a financial adviser will do, what they will ask for and what they will charge.

Help employees manage their debt

More than 60 per cent of people struggling with debt are women. Now is the time to get creative about helping women manage that debt with tips on credit card payments and savings in everyday spending. Do you offer a student loan option? If you do – how are you communicating it? It generally takes women five years longer to pay off a student loan; think about who might really need to know about this option, and why.

A solution to the gender savings gap is clearly much broader than financial communication. But the more your employees know, the more power they have to make good decisions about their money.

Nikki Thompson is a communication consultant at LikeMinds