44% of New Zealanders felt they had improved their financial situation in the 12 months ending in June, while 56% felt they were either stagnating or declining financially, data from the Retirement Commission Te Ara Ahunga Ora has shown.
This is in contrast to 51% of people who felt they had made financial progress during the same period three years earlier, when unemployment was lower.
The Retirement Commission indicated that women, who typically earn less than men, reported worsening financial situations at a higher rate than men.
Across the past four quarters, sentiment surveys were carried out every quarter. On average, 38% of women told the commission’s researchers that their financial situation had improved over the previous 12 months, compared to 49% of men.
In the most recent quarterly survey for April, May, and June, only 36% of women reported having improved their financial situation over the past 12 months, compared to 51% of men.
The commission’s data showed that women’s overall perceptions of whether they were sinking, swimming, or treading water were more negative than those of men, even when they lived in households with the same income.
The commission’s survey revealed that men and women reported similar levels of financial comfort in households earning $150,000 or more, but at incomes below that threshold, women reported higher levels of financial discomfort than men, even when their income levels were the same.
Women also indicated experiencing greater financial stress and more discomfort with debt compared to men from households with comparable incomes.
The commission believes that a combination of factors may be involved, including the specific circumstances of certain women within households.
For Tom Hartmann, Sorted Personal Finance Lead, these factors might involve gender-related cognitive biases, including variations in attitudes toward financial risk between men and women, as well as differences in financial optimism.
Women, according to research, also bear the “cognitive load” of households, managing responsibilities such as forward planning, children’s healthcare and education, balancing the household budget, and other demanding planning tasks.