Women across the world face huge challenges when it comes to money. For many, there’s a pay gap, there’s an investing gap, and there’s a confidence gap.
But there’s good news. In recognising these challenges, we are seeing more and more women get behind the concept of ‘financial feminism’.
What is financial feminism? In a nutshell, it’s the belief in the financial equality of women. And certainly, we need financial feminism on many fronts—but in particular we really need it when it comes to investing. Because the stats are just shocking. For example, in the US, compared with the average single man, the average single woman’s net worth is three times smaller (according to a joint study from Merrill Lynch and Age Wave). Wow.
But here’s the thing—financial markets and all the different players that sit within are simply not listening to or addressing the needs of women as financial decision-makers, women as investors.
Why? When it comes to money and investing, we could probably say that the ‘rules of the game’ have not been designed by women. And very rarely do they benefit women. The result is that many female investors are simply not engaged or empowered to take action.
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Financial feminism is…about getting women to invest in the type of future they want to build—in companies and sectors that are aligned with their values.
In particular, we know that women really do care about where their money is invested. They are not only looking for financial returns, they are looking far beyond this to the broader environmental and societal impacts that investing our money can have.
We’ve also confirmed this hypothesis. Moxie Future’s previous research paper Understanding female investors found that:
- 83 per cent of women surveyed care about where their money is invested
- 69 per cent feel a sense of urgency to invest responsibly, and
- 63 per cent are motivated to be responsible investors.
Those numbers speak for themselves.
What the moxie?
We need our financial markets to change, and we need a paradigm shift. Moxie Future was set up to do just this.
For us, Moxie is about having the courage and strength to challenge the status quo. And this is exactly what Moxie Future, a platform for female investors, is all about. We’ve got to have the moxie, the force of character, to create a new dynamic in the world of investment and finance.
Our goal is simple. We want to empower women to positively change the world. We do this by working to support women in learning how to use their investments, their financial decisions, to create a brighter future for everyone.
We also have big ambitions and we know that we cannot do this alone. To help us in our journey, we really want and need feedback from women on how to make this happen. So please take part in Moxie Future’s online survey—it will take 10 minutes of your time and we offer you a free annual membership to the Moxie Future Network when set up in 2019. What’s to wait for?
Financial feminism is not just about getting women to invest more. It’s about getting women to invest in the type of future they want to build—in companies and sectors that are aligned with their values. This is where the real opportunity for change lies. Be part of this journey.
Jessica Robinson is the founder of Moxie Future and an advisory board member of Eco-Business.
