B.C. women more stressed about finances than men: Report
For Naomi Alexander, every day is a mission to make ends meet.
A single mother of two boys, aged seven and 13, Alexander worked hard to get through a culinary program and get off welfare. But her struggle continues.
“It’s stressful,” the 36-year-old said. “Every day is a mission of trying to find out where our next meal is coming from or how the next bill is going to get paid.”
After going from job to job in the male-dominated restaurant industry, Alexander decided to be her own boss. She’s working to get two businesses — a catering company called Ital Eyez Catering and a kombucha company — off the ground.
The kitchen is a “man eat man world,” said Alexander, who has witnessed sexual harassment or innuendo targeted at women in the workplace. “Women are underpaid, undermined and undercut. It’s kind of crazy.”
Alexander’s struggles put a human face on a Vancity study released Wednesday on the eve of International Women’s Day.
Money Troubled: Inside B.C.’s Financial Health Gender Gap, found women in B.C. face more challenges to their financial health and well-being than men, despite years of fighting for gender equality.
The report found 52 per cent of B.C. women reported experiencing “extreme emotional stress” over their finances compared to 38 per cent of men, while 39 per cent of women said their money worries made them physically unwell compared to 30 per cent of men.
It also found millennial women aged 18 to 34 and Generation X women aged 35 to 54 experience greater financial stress and less confidence about their financial affairs.
The heavier toll on younger generations is disheartening, said Vancity wealth adviser Sophie Salcito, particularly since women in these generations attain higher levels of education.
“That younger generation should be ahead of everybody else, but it’s going backwards,” she said.
“We are seeing that over 50 per cent of Canadian graduates are women, not men. We are getting a higher level of a so-called education, but along the way, we’ve lost how we used to teach our children about financial management.”
The Vancity report uses data from the 2017 Financial Health Index survey conducted last year with 5,200 respondents across Canada.
The report also uses data from Statistics Canada to lay out how women in B.C. are paid less per hour than the national average for women, and are more likely to be hit with higher housing prices and rising cost of living compared to women in the rest of Canada.
About 86 per cent of B.C. women say housing affordability is an issue compared to 61 per cent of women nationally.
Women also earn an average annual income of $34,149 in B.C., according to Statistics Canada — about 35 per cent less than men.
Reasons for the disparity include women being over-represented in lower-paying jobs, more likely than men to work part-time; and more likely to perform unpaid labour, such as household chores or caring for children or seniors.