Three in five Australian women in a relationship are leaving themselves vulnerable to the risk of ‘financial abuse’ by not taking steps to ensure their own financial independence, new research from CoreData has found.
CoreData’s Female Financial Abuse research surveyed 801 women nationally to assess the level of independence among Australian women with regards to their financial situation and segmented them based on financial literacy and the extent to which they take control of their financial future.
The research found 60.5% of women in a relationship do not have any assets held separately from their partner in their own name. This is most common among women in QLD (72.2%).
Financial abuse is defined by CoreData as the financial risk that women are exposed to by virtue of a relationship break down, manipulative relationship, or their partner’s financially irresponsible behaviour (ie. Gambling, credit card debts) – leaving the female lacking financial security.
It was further revealed that 70.3% of those in a relationship feel at least somewhat reliant on their partner for financial support. Women in NSW are most likely to feel this way (75.8%).
Kristen Turnbull, Head of WA at CoreData says despite the increasing independence of females in modern Australian society, many females’ financial stability remains linked to their partner.
“Women who face up to reality and take control of their financial situation are less at risk of financial abuse,” Turnbull says.
“However, a lot of women are leaving themselves vulnerable – no matter how much they trust and love their partners – by not taking the steps to financially educate themselves and attain a level of financial independence from their partner. Importantly, it’s often the most vulnerable that appear to be the least aware of their vulnerability.”
The research revealed the relatively low levels of women who hold assets independently from their partner.
“Our research suggests that because there is little self-awareness of vulnerability to financial abuse, the best measures are more objective ones such as holding independent assets rather than women’s own opinions,” Turnbull says.
“We found that only two in five women have assets that are completely theirs (ie. in their name only) and even fewer have a savings account (39.0%), transaction account (33.5%), credit card (36.3%), shares or other investments (17.5%), residential property (8.8%) or an investment property (4.6%) in their own name, signaling potential vulnerability for many Australian women.”
While the large majority (85.8%) of women worrying to some extent about money and the future, more than half (53.2%) of women say they have no financial plan and only 10.5% feel they have very strong financial knowledge.
Almost three in 10 (29.1%) save nothing each month, with more than a third of women in SA (34.9%) and Victoria (34.0%) saying this is the case.
Financial literacy key
Turnbull says financial services companies have a role to play in assisting women to better educate themselves around their financial situation and take control of their financial future.
“Our segmentation of Australian women found that around half fall into the ‘Blinded by the light’ and ‘Cross the fingers’ segments,” she says.
“These segments are more likely to feel financially insecure and out of control of their financial future, demonstrating that they need support and guidance to get on track with their finances and reduce their reliance on others, especially given the high prevalence of separation and divorce in Australia.”
Only one in 10 women fall into the ‘Taking charge’ segment, feeling confident and determined to forge their own destiny. These women are less likely to feel reliant on their partner for financial support, are more likely to have assets in their own name, are more likely to try to ensure they maintain financial independence from their partner and are more likely to have strong financial knowledge.
Female Financial Typologies
More than half (55%) of women in a relationship say divorce/separation or becoming widowed would have a negative impact on their sense of financial security if it were to happen suddenly.
The findings also revealed that almost a third of women (31.5%) have suffered emotional or physical abuse at the hands of a partner at some stage in their life. Emotional abuse is the most common (20.8%), while nearly one in 10 (9.7%) have suffered both emotional and physical abuse.
One in seven (14.4%) women in a relationship do not always feel safe with their partner, while a further one in seven (14.2%) have felt that a partner or husband has had access to their personal finances to control them or the relationship.
About the research
The quantitative analysis from the Female Financial Abuse research represents the findings from an online survey conducted between 5th and 11th May, 2016. The survey was completed by a total of 801 women.
