Money worries affect more than half of NZ women: research

More than half of all New Zealand women regularly worry about money, new research has found.

The Financial Services Council this week released its latest research from its "Money and You" series, which is aimed at improving New Zealanders’ relationship with money.

As part of the series this year, the council has looked at the generation of renters, KiwiSaver and the rise of digital investing.

In its final piece for the year, the council wanted to look at financial capability of New Zealand women.

The idea of the research was to "take a snapshot" of the level of their capability, what their drivers were and if there had been any impacts from Covid-19, the council’s chief executive, Richard Klipin, said.

The research — which canvassed about 2000 women over an eight-day period in April this year — found about 80% of women rated their financial wellbeing as moderate to very low.

It also found 62% of women did not feel prepared for retirement and a similar number rated their investing literacy as low.

Just under a third of women used or planned to use micro-investing platforms, such as Sharesies or Hatch.

The results were "pretty interesting" because they shone a light on where women in New Zealand were at in terms of money confidence and what needed to change, Mr Klipin said.

"That gender lens becomes really important because it is not about having one conversation."

He believed the findings showed the importance of having conversations about money at a young age, particularly around spending and saving — "instead of ‘do we go to the hole in the wall called the ATM and get the money out?"’

The earlier children began learning about money, the better the results would be.

"The more empowered families are to have these conversations and the more tools they have, the more the results will improve," he said.

The Financial Services Council was working with the Retirement Commission to support its national strategy for financial capability, Mr Klipin said.

He expected the number of women using micro-investing platforms to be substantially higher in years to come.

"Conversations about micro-investing are happening around the summer barbecue table now because they are becoming more and more popular."

The council was about to go into the field for its next round of research due out next year, Mr Klipin said.

 - riley.kennedy@odt.co.nz