What Is the State of Women & Money in 2024?
Written by
Gabrielle Olya
Edited by
Ashleigh Ray
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Women have been making major strides in the world of personal finance. A recent LendingTree analysis found that single women now own more homes than single men. And Fortune reported that women CEOs now run more than 10% of the Fortune 500 companies. Still, the gender pay gap persists and women continue to be less likely to invest than men — even though data has shown that they tend to be better investors.
To get a complete look at women’s financial standing in 2024, GOBankingRates surveyed over 1,000 American adults who identify as female about their financial obstacles and goals, and attitudes about money. Here’s a look at what we found.
Key Findings
- Women are more likely than ever to run their household’s finances. 59% of non-single women are in charge of making household financial decisions, and an additional 31% make financial decisions with their partners. That marks an increase from 2023, when 48% of women in couples said they run household finances, and 37% said they make decisions together.
- Women are focused on paying off debt. 27% said this is their primary financial goal, while 26% said they are focused on covering basic expenses.
- Most women (53%) are not actively investing. Among those who are not, 37% cite lack of money as their biggest obstacle.
- Many women are debt-free. 63% of women do not have student loan debt and 40% do not have credit card debt.
- More than half of women (56%) do not consider themselves financially stable.
- The most common bad money habit among women is impulse shopping. 21% said they are guilty of this behavior.
Women’s Primary Financial Goal Is Paying Off Debt
Over the past year, women’s financial priorities have shifted slightly. In 2023, the largest proportion of women (26%) said their primary financial goal was covering basic expenses. Now, the largest proportion (27%) said their primary goal is paying off debt, with covering basic expenses coming in at a very close second (26%).
More than half of women (53%) said that a lack of money is the biggest obstacle to reaching their financial goals. Additionally, just under half of the women surveyed (44%) cite inflation/not being able to afford everyday expenses as their biggest financial stressor. This is an increase from last year, when 39% of women said inflation was their biggest source of money stress.
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Most Women Are Not Actively Investing
The GOBankingRates survey found that 57% of women are not actively investing. When asked why they are not investing, one-third of women (37%) cited a lack of money.
The most popular investment vehicle among women is work-sponsored retirement plans (17%), followed by brokerage accounts (11%). Less than 10% utilize an IRA or investing app.
Many Women Don’t Have Debt
On a positive note, the survey found that the majority of women do not have student loan debt (63%) and 40% do not have credit card debt. And among those with debt, the amounts owed were generally on the lower end — 37% of women with student loan debt owe less than $10,000, and 50% of women with credit card debt owe less than $2,000.
Roughly a third of women (34%) cite the high cost of living as their biggest obstacle to paying off debt.
Most Women Think They Are Good With Money — but Admit to Bad Behaviors
When asked if they are bad with money, the majority (70%) said no. However, most women (56%) do not consider themselves financially stable, and many admit to having bad money habits: 21% admit to impulse shopping, 18% said they don’t have or don’t stick to a budget and 8% order food delivery too often.
As for their biggest financial regrets, the top regret is taking on credit card debt (25%) followed by not starting to save for retirement sooner (19%), not building an emergency fund (16%), not investing (8%), taking a low-paying job (8%) and not educating themselves on financial topics (7%).
Women Are in Charge of Household Financial Decisions
The survey found that 59% of non-single women are in charge of making household financial decisions, and an additional 31% make financial decisions with their partners.
In addition, 64% of women consider themselves to be financially independent — only 22% said they are reliant on a romantic partner and just 14% said they are reliant on a family member.
Despite this, 29% said they avoid thinking about or dealing with their finances, and 19% said they are fearful about making financial decisions because they are not confident in their ability to manage money.
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