“Family budgeting and personal finance decisions are highly made by women, but women are intimidated by investing.” “Women also have a significant financial literacy gap,” said Lynn Toomey, founder of Her Retirement, a financial education and retirement readiness platform for women. The exodus of women from the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to negatively affect their wages for years to come. Learn: 5 Easy Financial Habits Every Woman Should Pick Up Where Are We Now?Īlthough women have come a long way from being considered the legal property of their husbands, many pervasive and deeply ingrained societal issues still present challenging roadblocks to financial independence.įamilies with a female head of household have more than twice the poverty rate than those with males (23% versus 11%), according to the 2020 Census.ĭespite the Equal Pay Act, women still make 82 cents for every dollar men make, a statistic that can in part be attributed to the higher likelihood that women will interrupt their careers to care for others. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, signed by President Barack Obama in 2009, relaxed severe restrictions around the statute of limitations over filing an equal pay discrimination suit. It entitled workers covered by employer insurance to 12 weeks of paid leave for events such as the birth of a child or to care for an ill family member. The Family and Medical Leave Act was enacted in 1993. That changed with the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988. Just over 30 years ago, women still couldn’t get a business loan without a co-sign from a male relative. Recent times have seen more measures to address lingering inequalities. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 also prohibits discrimination against applicants who receive federal income assistance. In 1978, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act aimed to stop employers from firing women once they became pregnant and ensure that their insurance policies could not exclude pregnant employees.Īmid this wave of legislation came another crucial milestone: ensuring that lenders couldn’t deny credit to anyone based on their sex, marital status, race, national origin or religion.
In 1974, Title VII prohibited employers from refusing to hire anyone, fire them or create an atmosphere of harassment based on sex, race, religion or national origin.
Two amendments to the Civil Rights Act went further to protect women from gender discrimination. Title IX’s mandate for equal funding of men’s and women’s athletics not only had a major impact on women’s participation in sports programs, but the act is credited with reducing high school dropout rates for girls and increasing the ranks of women earning college degrees.