Financial independence and gender equality
EIGE’s new report Financial independence and gender equality: joining the dots on income, wealth and power offers a perspective into why financial independence remains critical for women and men.
The report presents evidence on gender inequalities in financial independence in the EU, with a particular focus on how financial independence has been defined and measured.
It also presents evidence on the impact of tax–benefit systems in EU Member States on gender inequalities in financial independence and explores consequences associated with financial dependence, including economic violence.
Financial independence has most often been defined in narrow terms, focusing on earnings and income specifically within the context of female–male partnerships, the report states.
Gender inequalities in pay, earnings and income are entrenched and enduring, with gender gaps consistently being to the detriment of women, who are consistently disadvantaged compared to men in relation to wealth, with gender gaps increasing with age or presence of children, and women that often shoulder financial responsibility for making ends meet.
Data limitations make it difficult to estimate gender inequalities in financial independence across all its dimensions, but are enough to see how tax–benefit systems in EU Member States reduce gender inequalities in financial independence, largely for the working age population.
