Majority of women are breadwinners

Almost two-thirds (60%) of women say they are the primary breadwinners in their households, according to the Women, Money, and Power Study from Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America.

Read: Wealth managers must adapt to new realities: PwC

Other highlights of the survey include:

• Two-thirds of women agree that women cannot rely on a spouse to handle investing. Consistent with that finding, 57% of women respondents say they handle major investment decisions and retirement planning themselves. And almost as many (55%) say they are the ones to research new investing or retirement ideas.
• The majority of households surveyed responded having at least one non-traditional element (i.e., single mother, same-sex couple, parent or adult children in the home), creating new demands and new roles for women.
• Almost a third of women who have chosen to live with a partner without being married are in a same-sex relationship. Among women in same-sex couples, 22% have children under 18 living at home. Overwhelmingly, 80% of these same-sex couples say that their non-traditional family structure creates a whole new level of need for financial awareness.

Read: How to help young women clients

• Nearly two-thirds (62%) of women express strong interest in learning more about finances and retirement planning.
• Women continue to believe that the financial industry, as a whole, is oriented more toward serving men. A majority of women – 62% – still do not have a financial professional. And a vast majority find most financial information hard to understand and dull.
• Women who responded to the survey tend to prefer a more social way of learning financial information. This includes learning in a group with others of similar life experience (divorce, widowed, same-sex relationship, etc.).

Read the full report here.

Also read:

Women don’t understand money…right?

Retirement planning crucial for women

How women learn about finances

Stop talking down to women

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.