Women more concerned over nation's finances



Australia women are significantly more concerned than their male counterparts over Australia's economic outlook, research from Million Dollar Woman has found.
Only 30 per cent of working women are confident that Australia will avoid another economic downturn, compared to 47 per cent of working men, Million Dollar Woman's Financial Confidence Report found.
And 29 per cent of working Australian women believe they are worse off in 2011 than they were in 2010, compared to 25 per cent for men.
"The depressed levels of Australian women's financial confidence could go some way to explaining the reasons for Australian households' diminished levels of spending, coupled with the recent natural disasters and general 'two-speed' economic uncertainty," Million Dollar Woman chief executive Lynette Argent said.
A potential reason for the more negative sentiment among females is that they experience higher debt; for every dollar a woman earns they owe $2.60, compared to $2.10 for men, according to Million Dollar Woman.
The report also found males were more confident in their financial knowledge, with 63 per cent reporting they were confident in financial matters, against 53 per cent for females.
"Financial confidence directly relates to knowledge and understanding, and it comes as no surprise that these results are also poor for Aussie women," Argent said.
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