The report found that women have mixed feelings about being the primary earner. Less than half say they prefer it, compared to 87% of men primary earners.
Women breadwinners also feel that financial decision-making is less natural for them (48%) compared to men in their position (27%). Additionally, friends and family often assume that men are the primary earners in heterosexual relationships, and one in two women breadwinners say they have never corrected them.
“Our latest Own Your Worth research underscores the important role UBS, our financial advisors, and our industry as a whole, serve in supporting women breadwinners—and all women—on the path to greater financial participation,” said Jason Chandler, Head of Wealth Management Americas at UBS. “By focusing on comprehensive planning and engaging women breadwinners as decision-makers, we can help them to steer their own paths to achieving the financial goals most important to them.”
Women contend with trust issues from their partners and the time constraints of juggling it all
The report showed that women breadwinners must also face their partners’ insecurities about their earning status, with non-primary earning men wishing they were able to contribute more financially (75%) and take on the primary earner role (66%). Overall, women face more trust issues from their male partners on their day-to-day spending and investing than men face from their female partners – and distrust is highest among non-primary earning men, who are more likely to worry about their breadwinner partners’ spending habits (66%) or hold them back from spending money (62%).
In the home, women primary earners still take on more of the household responsibilities, such as cooking, cleaning and childcare, leaving much less time for financial matters. Women breadwinners rarely have a spouse or partner who isn’t employed outside the home to help manage household responsibilities, as the vast majority surveyed (92%) report being in dual-income households with partners who also work outside the home. In contrast, in couples where men are primary earners, 40% of women do not work outside the home.
Some of the challenges related to traditional gender role expectations are less pronounced among women in same-sex couples. Two-thirds of women breadwinners in same-sex couples say they feel more comfortable with being the breadwinner, reporting higher confidence in their financial decision-making than women primary earners in heterosexual couples.
An opportunity for the financial services industry to do more – for women
Exacerbating the lack of financial engagement among women primary earners, nearly two-thirds (63%) reported that the financial industry caters mainly to men. Further, nearly six in 10 (57%) say the financial industry often assumes that men are the primary earners in heterosexual couples and less than half believe the industry has treated them equally to men. That’s despite the fact that women primary earners are very clear about their financial priorities, citing retirement planning (86%), maintaining an emergency fund (74%), and tax planning (70%) as highly important financial considerations.
While financial professionals can play a critical role in helping women breadwinners meet their goals, they must also look to address imbalances faced by women breadwinners in order to improve the collective experience that women have with the industry. Financial professionals can help alleviate some of the sensitivities that exist around money by facilitating conversations that include both partners in a relationship equally, setting aside assumptions, listening to the unique needs of women breadwinners, and looking for ways to simplify, ease and automate services to help reduce the time burden of financial engagement for women breadwinners.
“UBS is a leading and truly global wealth manager with focused asset management and investment banking capabilities, and the leading universal bank in Switzerland. We enable people, institutions and corporations to achieve their goals by providing financial advice and solutions. We have a capital-light, cash-generative and well-diversified business model, a strong culture, a balance sheet for all seasons, and a respected brand with over 160 years of history.”