Who wears the money pants in your household?

Women may lag men in their ascent to the top of the executive ladder — accounting for slightly more than a quarter of top management in South Africa — but when it comes to household spending, they have emerged from the shadows.

A recent poll by Medihelp Medical Scheme asked the question: Who wears the money pants in your household?

Interestingly, a high percentage (42 percent) of spending decisions appear to be taken by both partners in a relationship.

In 46 percent of cases, spending decisions are a solo effort — but the respondents were 2:1 weighted in favour of women, which puts them in the driving seat.

The reason for asking the question was to establish whether the roles of who makes the decisions about money have changed from mainly men not too long ago to women taking the lead nowadays.

Another interesting statistic is that 54 percent of Medihelp’s main members are women.

Medihelp has 83 senior managerial roles, of which 63 percent is filled by women.

This is well above the national average. The 2023 Employment Equity Report by the Department of Employment and Labour shows women occupying just 26,5 percent of top management positions in the country. The figure rises to nearly 50 percent when it comes to technically skilled professions.

A 2022 survey by PwC found just seven of the JSE top 100 companies were helmed by women. Female representation across the CEO and CFO positions was 8 percent and 22 percent respectively, which is slightly better than the 5 percent and 17 percent recorded a year earlier.

Market research by Nielsen shows women are likely to be in charge of, if not being granted an equal say in, as much as 75 percent of discretionary household spending by 2028.

PwC research found that female directors are 60 percent more likely to see the link between ESG (environment, social and governance) and strategy and 80 percent more likely to link issues like climate change with company strategy.

This suggests women are more focused on long-term goals and the consequences of bad decisions.

A study by Bank rate found men have more debt than women, whereas “men feel socially pressured to exude wealth and status regardless of their success and frequently go into debt to keep up appearances”.

Although women tend to shop more often than men, they’re also more disciplined about their goals — and probably more aware of where the sales are at, when it comes to big-ticket items.

Women tend to be more safety-aware and less impulsive (which is why, historically, car insurance premiums were lower for women) — making them better at saving for the long haul.

Women are also likely to ask for advice when lost, and are therefore more likely to consult a financial advisor than to go it alone when contemplating their next investment-related move.

A February 2024 article from Market place.org says it best: “Since the pandemic began, single women and other lower-wealth groups saw larger percentage gains in their wealth than their higher-wealth counterparts . . . Primarily because it’s easier to double a small amount of money,” revealing great care in budgeting despite any shortfall in salary.

So, who makes the medical aid decisions?

The existing research suggests women are better at making long-term decisions, and that includes medical aid. — Moneyweb