How Financially Literate are Women? An Overview and New Insights

33 Pages Posted: 29 Dec 2014 Last revised: 26 Apr 2023

See all articles by Tabea Bucher-Koenen

Tabea Bucher-Koenen

Max Planck Society for the Advancement of the Sciences - Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA); ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Annamaria Lusardi

Stanford University - Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research

Rob J. M. Alessie

University of Groningen; Netspar; Tilburg University - Center for Economic Research (CentER)

Maarten van Rooij

De Nederlandsche Bank; Netspar

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 2014

Abstract

We document strikingly similar gender differences in financial literacy across countries. When asked to answer questions that measure knowledge of basic financial concepts, women are less likely than men to answer correctly and more likely to indicate that they do not know the answer. In addition, women give themselves lower scores on financial literacy self-assessments than men. Both young and old women show low levels of financial literacy. Moreover, women for whom financial knowledge is likely to be very important—for example widows or single women—know little about concepts relevant for day-to-day financial decisions. Even women in favorable economic conditions are less financially knowledgeable than men. This is important because financial literacy has been linked to economic behavior, including retirement planning and wealth accumulation. Women live longer than men and are likely to spend time in widowhood. As a result, improving women’s financial literacy is key to helping them prepare for retirement and promoting their financial security.

Suggested Citation

Bucher-Koenen, Tabea and Bucher-Koenen, Tabea and Lusardi, Annamaria and Alessie, Rob J. M. and van Rooij, Maarten, How Financially Literate are Women? An Overview and New Insights (December 2014). NBER Working Paper No. w20793, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2543645

Tabea Bucher-Koenen (Contact Author)

Max Planck Society for the Advancement of the Sciences - Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA) ( email )

Amalienstrasse 33
Munich, 80799
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://mea.mpisoc.mpg.de/

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1
D-68034 Mannheim, 68034
Germany

Annamaria Lusardi

Stanford University - Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research ( email )

366 Galvez Street
John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Building
Stanford, CA CA 94305
United States

HOME PAGE: http://siepr.stanford.edu/people/annamaria-lusardi

Rob J. M. Alessie

University of Groningen ( email )

P.O. box 800
9700 AV Groningen
Netherlands
050-3637240 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://members.chello.nl/~r.j.m.alessie

Netspar

P.O. Box 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://www.netspar.nl

Tilburg University - Center for Economic Research (CentER)

P.O. Box 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands

Maarten van Rooij

De Nederlandsche Bank ( email )

P.O. Box 98
Amsterdam, 1000 AB
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://www.dnb.nl/en/onderzoek-2/onderzoekers/overzicht-persoonlijke-paginas/dnb150127.jsp

Netspar ( email )

P.O. Box 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands

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