1Okay, so we've been looking at the attitudes of various social and cultural groups towards the management of their personal finances -
2how important they feel it is to save money,
3and what they save their money for.
4One aspect that we haven't yet considered is gender.
5So if we consider gender issues,
6we're basically asking whether men and women have different attitudes towards saving money,
7and whether they save money for different things.
8Back in 1928 the British writer George Bernard Shaw
9wrote in his Intelligent Women's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism
10that 'a man is supposed to understand politics. economics and finance'
11'and is therefore unwilling to accept essential instruction.'
12He also said, 'A woman, having fewer pretensions, is far more willing to learn'.
13Now, though these days people might question a lot of the assumptions contained in those statements,
14recent research does suggest that there are some quite fundamental differences between men and women
15in their attitudes to economic matters.
16Let's look at what men and women actually save for.
17Research studies of women in North America have found that...
18women are far more likely to save for their children's education
19and they are also more likely to save up in order to buy a house one day.
20The same studies have found that men, on the other hand,
21tend to save for a car,
22which, by the way, takes a surprisingly large amount of the household budget in North America.
23But the other main priority for men when saving money is their retirement.
24When they're earning, they're far more likely to put money aside for their old age than women are.
25Now, this is rather disturbing,
26because in fact the need for women to save for their old age is far greater than for men.
27Let's consider this for a moment.
28To start with, it is a fact that throughout the world,
29women are likely to live many years longer than men,
30so they need money to support them during this time.
31Since women are likely to be the ones left without a partner in old age,
32they may therefore have to pay for nursing care,
33because they don't have a spouse to look after them.
34Furthermore the high divorce rates in North America are creating a poverty cycle for women.
35It is the divorced women who will most often have to look after the children
36and thus they need more money to look after not just themselves but others.
37So what can be done about this situation?
38The population in North America is likely to contain an increasing number of elderly women.
39The research indicates that at present
40for women, it takes a crisis to make them think about their future financial situation.
41But of course, this is the very worst time for anyone to make important decisions.
42Women today need to look ahead, think ahead -
43not wait until they're under pressure.
44Even women in their early twenties need to think about pensions, for example,
45and with increasing numbers of women in professional positions,
46there are signs that this is beginning to happen.
47Then research also suggests that
48women avoid dealing effectively with their economic situation
49because of a lack of confidence.
50The best way for them to overcome this
51is by getting themselves properly informed
52so they are less dependent on other people's advice.
53A number of initiatives have been set up to help them do this.
54This College, for example, is one of the educational institutions
55which offers night classes in Money Management,
56and increasing numbers of women are enrolling on such courses.
57Here, they can be given advice on different ways of saving.
58Many women are unwilling to invest in stocks and shares, for instance,
59but these can be extremely profitable.
60It is usually advised that at least 70% of a person's savings should be in low-risk investments
61but for the rest, financial advisors often advise taking some well-informed risks.
62Initiatives such as this can give women the economic skills and knowledge they need
63for a comfortable, independent retirement.
64The increasing proportion of elderly women in the population...