Gender savings gap revealed

07/04/11
Savings

Men and women save for different things.

Men save for the future and women save for the short term.

Women save to meet short term goals like paying for holidays and men save in case of emergencies, according to a new survey detailing male and female attitudes to saving.

Carried out by NS&I Saving, the report highlights that over two fifths of women set cash aside for a holiday where as just under a third of men save up for long term targets covering things such as emergencies. More than a quarter of men said they are saving for retirement where as just 14% of women said the same.

NS&I Saving Spokesperson Tim Mack says: “It is interesting to see the difference in saving goals between men and women. While it is good to see that women are saving up for things, rather than relying on credit or risking going into their overdraft, a large number of women are prioritising short-term goals such as holidays. The majority of men are saving for long-term goals such as an emergency fund, before those short-term goals. We would encourage people to share and plan their goals and savings objectives”.

As a whole, about 35% of both men and women were found to be saving up to buy a home or pay off a mortgage. A further 14% of people said they were putting cash away to pay for their children’s future.

Mr Mack said: “The start of the new financial year is a good time to look at goals for the year ahead, and asses both short-term activities and long-term plans. Now is the perfect time of year for people to spring-clean their finances and adopt new positive savings habits”.