Women of the “Me Generation” Focus on Debt and Savings

A national survey by Citi revealed that women, especially young women aged 18 to 39, have reprioritized their finances as a result of the economic downturn.

Although these women admit their financial situations haven’t changed from six months or a year ago, they are “cautiously optimistic” about the future compared to September 2009, according to the telephone survey, conducted by Hart Research Associates among 2,002 adults nationally from March 15-25, 2010. The survey included 1,010 women and has an overall statistical margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points for women.

This “Me Generation” of women, as Citi calls them, is generally more conservative about their future spending than men. Seventy-two percent of women say that if they were to receive extra money, they would either save it or use it to pay bills, compared to 65% of men. Women are also more likely to hold off on purchasing large items than men, with just 33% of women believing it is a good or excellent time to make a large purchase, compared to 40% of men.

“For many young women, this is the first economic downturn they have lived through and really experienced the stress and hardship that economic cycles can cause,” said Lisa Caputo, chairman and CEO of Citi’s Women & Co. “It’s good to see that many are making smart choices with their money now as they look forward to an anticipated economic recovery. These adjustments are particularly critical for women, who tend to live longer and take more career breaks than men, and therefore need to focus on their financial futures early in their lives.”

But women interviewed for the survey said that while their financial behaviors have changed, they have also learned about the importance of social values. Thirty-three percent say they have learned to value family, friends and quality of life over material goods; 31% say they have learned to avoid going deeper into debt; and 31% say the lesson they have learned is about living within a smaller budget.

Some additional findings of the survey: 63% of women are reducing the amount of money they owe, compared to 57% who said this in September 2009. Sixty-seven percent of women today are comfortable with their current level of debt compared to 61% before. Comfort with savings is also on the rise, with 51% of women reporting that they are comfortable with their current level of savings compared to 44% previously. In addition, fewer women report needing to use their savings to pay bills.

“The survey findings show that women overall appear to be well prepared, both mentally and financially, coming out of the depths of a recession,” Caputo said.

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Money Management Executive
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