A new report documents the growing force women have become–and are becoming–in the Canadian economy.-
The Changing Landscape of Women’s Wealth predicts that by 2028 women will directly control about a third of total financial assets in the Canadian economy, $3.8 trillion.
Women currently directly control about $2.2 trillion of Canadian financial assets, according to the report prepared by CIBC Capital Markets economists Benjamin Tal and Katherine Judge,
“What we do see is that women are staying single longer and outliving men, so married women in particular are outliving their spouses by about six years so they’re taking more of a leadership role in managing that wealth,” the report says.
The report notes that Women have more money now than in the past because they have been in the workforce most of their lives and are taking control of financial decisions.
The CIBC report says women have accounted for 52 per cent of job growth in Canada since the 2008 recession. (Shutterstock)
“What that comes from is labour market progress on the part of women.” the authors write.
“Women are also increasing their employment in higher paying occupations, and the wage gap is shrinking.”
The study found married women control $1.4 of the female wealth pool assets and almost a quarter (22 per cent) make the investment decisions in their households.
“This trend will demand that much greater attention be given to planning and advice for women whose financial journeys often vary from those of men,” the authors write.
The report notes that women are “three times more likely to quit the work to care for others, and that plays into their investment needs” and says greater understanding of women’s “financial journey” is needed, though it presented no roadmap about how to achieve that.
The report says that since the 2008 recession, more women aged 25 and over are working and actively participating in the economy and have accounted for 52 per cent of job growth in full-time positions since 2008.
Women over 55 have seen market participation rise by almost twice the amount of men during the current economic cycle.
With files from CBC, Huffington Post, CTV, Canadian News Wire
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