Women more stressed by finances: Vancity 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 herself 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 said she has witnessed sexual harassment 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.
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.
Meanwhile, 39 per cent of women surveyed said their money worries made them physically unwell, compared to 30 per cent of men.
It also found women aged 18 to 34 and women aged 45 to 54 experience greater financial stress and less confidence about their financial affairs.
The heavier toll on younger generations is disheartening, Vancity wealth adviser Sophie Salcito said, 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 a survey on financial health 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 costs of living compared with the rest of Canada.
About 86 per cent of B.C. women say housing affordability is an issue — well above the 61 per cent of women nationally.
Women earn an average annual income of $34,149 in B.C., according to Statistics Canada — about 35 per cent less than men.
Salcito said the federal government’s budget initiatives aimed at reducing gender disparities, including money for new parental supports, pay equity and antiharassment initiatives, are a step in the right direction.
The Vancity report also issued a number of recommendations to reduce the burden of financial stress for women.
It called on companies to make sure their human resource practices are fair, equitable and free from institutional bias, and urged the government to introduce more financial literacy courses in schools, as well as improve access to child care.
Salcito also encouraged women, regardless of their situation, to step up and take the initiative to improve their financial literacy.
Meanwhile, Alexander is determined to take charge of her own financial future.
She named her kombucha company The Alexander Boy’s Tea & Drink Co. after her older son, who has eczema. A naturopath had told her to give him kombucha — but unable to afford it, she started brewing her own, which inspired her to launch the business.
Her children are her “everyday drive,” Alexander said. “They’re my inspiration. They deserve a better life than the life that’s landed in their lap.”
She said she’d like to see more support and resources for women in the workplace and more affordable daycare. She also wants society to start challenging stereotypes so women are equally valued in the workforce and have equal rights in the workplace — in practice, not just words.
“Being a woman and feeling this every day, I’m sure I’m not alone,” she said.