WORLD> Africa
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WORLD> Africa
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Most South African women 'financially independent'
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-06 10:24 Most South African woman, 43 percent, defined financial independence as not being dependent on their husbands or partners for money. Nevertheless, 62 percent of South African men and 56 percent of South African woman agreed that men should be responsible for household payments and mortgages. "In South Africa 56 percent of men believe that it is their responsibility to look after the family, whereas a lower 41 percent of women agree." Nearly three quarters of South African woman believe making their own budget will contribute to financial independence, while 61 percent believe that this will come from setting financial goals for themselves. Also, in South Africa, 73 percent of woman believed that women spend more money than men and 71 percent of South African men surveyed agreed with the women about this. The global average was 47 percent of women and 56 percent of men, who answered this question in the same way. Ninety five percent of South African woman said they believed it was important to know about products and services offered by banks and insurance companies. This was the highest percentage globally, followed by the US and Canada at 91 percent. When it came to credit card use, 40 percent of South African woman used monthly income to pay off credit card bills, while 82 percent agreed that having more than one card could lead to serious debt. Synovate's senior vice president of financial services in the US, Claire Braverman said the topic of women and their finances was ripe to be researched. "A woman meets a man, falls in love, moves in, gets married, has kids (not necessarily in that order) and it all falls apart. It's not until this moment that she realizes just how dependent she is on her partner's money. "Some women have checks in place to guard against this happening to them; some don't. Some are financially savvy, and some are simply not interested. "And even if a relationship break up is not a catalyst, women live longer than men and typically have less money upon retirement. "All this adds up to an urgent need for financial services companies to understand women and cater to their specific needs and the situations in which they are likely to find themselves, planned or unplanned," she said. Braverman also said that it was not that long ago that there had been a mass entry of woman into the work force. To varying degrees, gender equality remained an issue around the world. "Yet the survey found that nearly six in ten women across 12 diverse countries believe themselves to be financially independent. That's certainly encouraging."
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