2009 Women and Money Confidence Report findings

The 2009 ANZ Women and Money Confidence was commissioned by ANZ to investigate Australian women's savings habits and confidence in managing their financial security and builds on the 2007 and 2008 research.

Key findings of the 2009 report included:

· More than half (51%) of Australian women have less than $5,000 in savings, and 29% have less than $1,000.
· 56% of Australian women do not save money on a regular basis, with one in five admitting they typically spend all of their monthly pay packet or regularly dip into their savings to live on.
· Almost 2.3 million women (51%) would last less than three months on their current savings if they lost their job and still had to pay their usual bills. 1.5 million (33%) would last no longer than a month.


Talking about money, having a plan and building confidence

· The number of women with a financial plan in place to achieve their goals has increased from 38% to almost half (47%) since 2008.
· More than one in four (29%) are discussing financial matters with friends and family now more than 12 months ago and 61% of women are talking with their girlfriends about financial matters monthly or more frequently.
· Almost 2.4 million Australian women would last less than three months on their current savings if they lost their job and still had to pay their usual bills.


Confidence in managing their personal finances

· Confidence in future financial security is slowly improving compared to 2008 and one in five women (21%) are very confident that they have a money plan.
· Less than one third of women are very confident about managing everyday finances.
· One in ten women are very confident in managing their investments, financial planning and superannuation


Summary and conclusions

· Overall, Australian women have made some progress since 2008 in making a financial plan to achieve their goals but more than half still don't have a plan.
· Many women do not have savings or an adequate 'buffer' in place with half saying they would last three months or less if they lost their job. One third has had to use a credit card in the past three months to pay off a bill instalment.
· The way forward is in planning, budgeting and saving but less than half of women have reached a level of confidence in any one of these areas.


Note: Research Methodology
This study was conducted online in October 2009 among members of a permission-based panel with 1,291 Australians aged 18 years and over, taking part. All totals have been weighted to national proportions. All data has been weighted by age and region to reflect the latest ABS population estimates.


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