Women Have Narrowed Financial Confidence Gap With Men Since 2020: Study

What You Need to Know

Gaps are shrinking in areas such as financial engagement, focus on retirement and general financial strength.
Both Generation Z and millennial women and men were the most confident of the generations surveyed.
Women of all ages are more confident in their ability to manage their finances,

The world has changed in many ways since the onset of the pandemic, including the way in which women manage their money, U.S. Bank reported Tuesday.

In a March 2020 study, U.S. Bank found that women were less confident and less engaged with managing money than men, generally started investing later than men and tended to associate negative emotions with financial planning. 

The most recent survey shows that many of these gaps are shrinking in areas such as financial engagement, focus on retirement and general financial strength among women and men from different generations. 

The report says these differences are reason for great optimism that a new generation of female investors is redefining women and wealth. 

“The most positive insight from this second Women & Wealth survey is the progress younger women have made in engaging with and managing their finances,” Gunjan Kedia, vice chair of wealth management and investment services at U.S. Bank, said in a statement. 

The new survey was conducted online in September among 1,517 women and 1,507 men with at least $25,000 in investable assets.

Positivity Increases

The new survey found that women are more positive about managing their finances now. Consider the shifts in how they associate positive and negative words with financial planning:

Pride: 35% in 2020 vs. 37% in 2022.
Excitement: 29% vs. 34%.
Happiness: 28% vs. 31%.
Anxiety: 33% vs. 27%.
Inadequacy: 13% vs. 11%.
Fear: 12% vs. 8%.
Dread: 9% vs. 8%.

Both women and men are more confident now in their ability to fund future financial needs, according to the survey results. In 2022, 36% of women and 37% of men felt they were sufficiently prepared to cover their future financial needs, up from 23% and 34% in the 2020 survey. 

Both Generation Z and millennial women and men were the most confident of any generation in the sample. 

In 2020, 48% of women and 61% of men said they were confident that they would be able to retire when they were ready, according to U.S. Bank. In the 2022 survey, that 13-point gap had shrunk to 5 points, with 57% of women now confident about retirement. 

New Generation

Women of all ages are more confident in their ability to manage their finances, according to the new data. In 2020, 56% of women under 35, 50% of women 35 to 54 and 41% of women 55 and older said they were confident in their ability to manage their finances. Those numbers went up across all generations surveyed in 2022.