How feminists manage their finances
This is the second part of the series How do feminists do that? where I research topics relevant to feminists in 2025.
Accounting for the gender pay gap
One of the issues that comes up every year for International Women’s Day is the gender pay gap. It is currently 8.2% in New Zealand, as of June 2024, and down from double that in 1998. I think it’s crucial that women account for this gap in their finances. If women have a male partner and separate bank accounts, they can split their expenses so if they earn less than their partner, they are paying proportionately less for things (not splitting everything 50/50). Because I know this gap exists, I make sure the money that goes into my daughter’s savings account is about 8% more than what my son gets. I figure when she’s able to access this money, why not have a bit more, on the assumption she may earn less just because she’s a woman? (I’m also hoping that gap will have closed by the time she’s 18).
The gender pay gap hits women more than just their weekly earnings. It affects our ability to build our Kiwisaver or retirement savings to the same amount as men, since we may earn comparatively less and we earn nothing towards retirement when taking time off work to have children. After maternity leave, women often return to work part-time or take time out of the workforce, further eroding retirement savings. The difference between women and men’s retirement savings can be as much as 25% (Te Ara Ahunga Ora The Retirement Commission, 2025). I watched my Kiwisaver stagnate when I was on parental leave, and while I worked part-time it crawled slowly forward. It’s only ramped up again recently. I contribute more than the minimum (only slightly) because comparatively, the contribution from our incomes in New Zealand is much lower than countries like Australia (where employers contribute 11.5% of an individual’s salary). Sorted.org has a Kiwisaver calculator where you can project what you’ll have by age 65. One way of getting around women having reduced retirement funds is to be proactive and either contribute more to Kiwisaver, or to contribute to other investments.
Ideally, government policies would ensure the gender pay gap – for both earnings, and retirement savings – doesn’t exist or is weakened: by providing for women who take career breaks, or incentivising men to stay at home with their children as well as women.
Budgeting for a higher spend on health
Women need to plan for a higher spend on health throughout our lifetimes. It’s not just ‘women’s health issues’ at play here. As many as 80% of people with autoimmune diseases are women, thanks to our double X chromosomes (Stanford Medicine, 2024). Long-term health problems that are multifaceted need several different types of treatment, from seeing specialists, to physiotherapists, to increased GP visits. Specialists in the private system can vary from $300 to $400 per visit. Then there are the costs associated with perimenopause and menopause, putting financial stress on women as they age. Women in the U.K. spend around 1.5 times more on healthcare than men do (Integrated Care Journal, 2024), creating a health equity gap. [I’ve previously written about the costs associated with having a baby that aren’t covered by the public health system.] All that to say, women can budget for more healthcare costs than men – and as frustrating as this is, it’s good to have financial backup when we need it.
More women in the workforce = the potential for higher earnings
If women take time out of the workforce, we can end up earning less than men across our lifespan. One positive aspect about Covid is that since the pandemic, the number of women with children aged under 5 in the workforce is higher than its ever been. Before the pandemic, the peak was 68.9% and post-pandemic (June 2023) 70.4% of women with kids 5 and under were working. If the trend continues, women will be on track to have higher lifetime earnings than earlier generations. This shift was brought about by the sudden ability to work flexibly. I remember having a total of 3 weeks working as a mother in a pre-Covid world, going back to work 5 days a week after maternity leave. Three weeks later, Covid lockdowns were announced. Before then, there was little flexibility to work from home – I think it was one day a fortnight! Now, flexible and remote work make it easier for women to manage when kids are sick – they can continue working right next to them or take kids to daytime appointments. To keep this trending, we need to be wary of workplace policies to cut flexibility and make sure the privileged few are not driving policies to have everyone in the office 100% of the time.
Any financial management tips for your fellow feminists?
*Please remember the content in this piece is not a replacement for personalised financial advice, from a professional financial advisor.