What is changing

It is difficult to uproot the belief according to which women are less gifted than men at finance. And yet an increasing number of women are now taking charge of their business affairs. A change in society partly explains this transition. There are also more women who are active on the employment market. They therefore want to keep control of their money in order to be able to retain their decision-making power, manage their life or indeed plan for their retirement. Divorce – which affects more than one in two marriages in Switzerland – is also a major contributing factor. The difficulties which it leads to also encourages a large number of women to manage their finances themselves.

What is not changing

In spite of the upturn, some phenomena remain endemic. In Europe as in elsewhere, women today are still less well-paid – and by much – than men. They receive 19% less than their male counterparts in Switzerland according to a survey on salary structures from the Swiss Federal Statistics Office dating back to 2018. Their careers are also more irregular – dictated by maternity leave– and opting for part-time working arrangements is more common with women than with men. As well as being cumulative, these gaps become greater over time and this is not without consequence. All of which is certainly a handicap when it comes to retirement.