Womenomics

Women 'still held back in workplace' If you're a woman in New Zealand chances are you'll have a good education, but that won't neccessarily bring you better job opportunities. "Women are gaining qualifications at a greater rate than men but their skills are not being translated into greater opportunities," the report said. "Division of labour still sees women doing the majority of unpaid domestic work, and in paid employment you've got gender...

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Everyday Money

The gender pay gap persists almost everywhere On average women earn 18% less than men, according to analysis by Korn Ferry Hay Group, a consulting firm which looked at more than 8m employees in 33 countries. In Britain, more than four decades after the equal pay act was introduced, the headline difference between men and women’s pay is still high. Women only make up around a third of senior management roles there. Workers at the same level...

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Why?

'Pink tax' angers women from New York to London.  It's called the "pink tax." The same products have very different price tags, depending on which gender they are meant for.  Take shampoos as an example. A recent study by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs found that haircare products for women cost on average 48% more than the same items meant for men. It found that female razors are 11% more expensive than...

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Who's counting?

6 Fascinating Mind Tricks That Help You Save Money Psych Yourself Rich  Putting money aside seems pretty straightforward. But, seeing as the average personal-savings rate is just 5.7 percent (compared to 11 percent two decades ago), it’s definitely easier said than done. “We like to think of ourselves as rational when it comes to finances, but our decisions are shaped by psychological and emotional triggers,” says financial...

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Finance & Investments

Here are three common myths about women and money — happily debunked.  The Stereotype: Women Are More Risk Averse Many studies have found statistically significant differences in how men and women view risk. But economists and pundits have a habit of extrapolating those findings into the broad-brush statement that "women are more risk averse than men." Clearly, this isn't universally true. As economist Julie Nelson pointed out,...

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Musings & Amusings

Unclouded vision Forecasting is a talent. Luckily it can be learned. Human beings cannot resist trying to scry the future. If soothsaying is not the oldest profession, it is certainly one of them. The Chinese had the I-Ching; the Romans peered at the entrails of sacrificed animals. These days, anyone wanting to know what the future holds can consult everything from telephone psychics to intelligence agencies, bookies, futures markets and media...

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Why?

Sabotaging Yourself Without Knowing It Change Your Mindset Putting yourself down directly is the most destructive negative mental habit people have, This habit is hard to break,  because negative self-talk evolves into an automatic impulse for many. Women in particular get into the habit of downplaying our accomplishments to others (and ourselves), becoming overly self-effacing. Doubting Yourself When you lack self-confidence, you end...

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Womenomics

Global Financial Literacy Suppose you put $100 in a savings account that earns 10% interest each year. After five years how much will you have? That was a question posed in a multiple-choice quiz (completed by 150,000 people in 144 countries) by Standard & Poor’s, a rating agency. The answers proferred were "less than $150", "exactly $150" and "more than $150". The intention was to test whether respondents understood...

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Musings & Amusings

Can’t say I was a fan of Leaning In so loved Lucy Kellaway’s comments (didn’t read the whole book I confess): Stop leaning in at once. It isn’t a comfortable position to adopt, and I’m not at all surprised to hear that after 18 months you are suffering in body and soul. Forget Sheryl Sandberg and try my three easy rules for leaning out which I have been perfecting for the past quarter of a century. 1. Never ever go to any evening events for work...

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Everyday Money

Setting Aside Shame and Blame in Financial Decisions Shame fails at changing behaviour, it can also trigger the very mistakes we’re trying to avoid. Shame is something we internalise, and we capture it with a statement like, “I’m a bad person.” With guilt, we focus on the action and say, “I made a mistake. That’s really dumb.” In other words, we make shame about us, but guilt is about the event. Think about the last money conversation you...

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Who's Counting?

8 Ways Women's Lives Have Changed For The Better Since 2005 More women have access to higher quality health care. Women's representation in politics is higher than it's ever been. Same sex marriage is legal Women’s equality in the workplace has improved – along with our ability to fight for it. The entertainment industry finally started to recognise that women are consumers of pop culture, want to see our experiences represented, and are pretty...

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Finance & Investments

The key component of personal finance is financial planning, which is a dynamic process that requires regular monitoring and reevaluation. In general, it involves five steps: 1. Assessment: A person's financial situation is assessed by compiling simplified versions of financial statements including balance sheets and income statements. A personal balance sheet lists the values of personal assets (e.g., car, house, clothes, stocks, bank account),...

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Who's Counting?

Why Swedish men take so much paternity leave ALONG with its Nordic neighbours, Sweden features near the top of most gender-equality rankings. The World Economic Forum rates it as having one of the narrowest gender gaps in the world. But Sweden is not only a good place to be a woman: it also appears to be an idyll for new dads. Close to 90% of Swedish fathers take paternity leave.   Forty years ago Sweden became the first country in...

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Why?

Club rules keep women out of the network A week ago Lady Judge, the newly appointed chairman of the Institute of Directors, held an unusual party.  The room at the London club’s grand headquarters in Pall Mall was filled with the great and the good(ish): over champagne and canapés, the UK home secretary and the head of the Royal Mail hobnobbed with a former Lord Mayor of London and other senior figures in business and politics. Nothing...

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