A New Study Shows Women Trail Men by 10 Points on Financial Literacy, Here's Why That Gap Has to Close

"Men correctly answered 53% of the index's questions while women answered 45%. The headline gap is closer to 8 points on that measure, but on the binary "very high literacy" threshold, the divide widens: 22% of men cleared it, compared with 11% of women. Regression analysis confirms the gap persists even after controlling for age, education, and income, indicating it is a knowledge gap that survives the usual explanations of schooling and earnings."

"Women do not lag across the board, but the gaps show up exactly where they matter most. The P‑Fin Index finds that women score essentially the same as men on day‑to‑day spending questions, yet fall sharply behind in the categories that shape long‑run wealth. The saving gap is ten points, and the investing gap is fifteen points, both documented in the report: "These gender differences are... as large as 10 and 15 percentage points in the realms of saving and investing"."

"Those are the levers that determine whether a 65‑year‑old ends up with a modest balance or a life‑changing one. A 30‑year‑old woman who spends two decades under‑allocating to equities because she isn't confident in what she owns will reach retirement with a fundamentally different balance sheet than a male peer earning the same income."

Men answer 53% of financial literacy questions while women answer 45%, and the gap persists after controlling for age, education, and income. On a “very high literacy” threshold, 22% of men qualify compared with 11% of women. Women score similarly to men on day-to-day spending questions, but fall behind in saving and investing categories. The saving gap is about 10 percentage points and the investing gap is about 15 percentage points. These differences matter because saving and investing decisions shape long-run wealth and retirement balances. Economic realities such as lower hourly earnings, more caregiving-related career interruptions, and longer life expectancy increase the importance of financial knowledge for retirement income.

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