Women are stereotypically seen as irresponsible spenders, but the data doesn't back this up. According to a 2019 Experian study, men carry more debt than women across nearly all categories, including credit card debt — the study found that men have $125 more in credit card debt than women on average.
Analysis of the debt share in the U.S. shows that people aged 40-49 hold the largest amount of debt at $4.21 trillion in total. People aged 50-59 have the most credit card debt in total at $0.21 trillion, and people aged 30-39 have the most student loan debt at $0.5 trillion.
Women are less likely than men to report they're doing well financially but are more likely to curb spending. Just 23% of women say they're doing well or very well financially — 11 percentage points behind men. Additionally, 37% of women aren't able to save money, versus 22% of men.
Gender wealth gaps are even starker and vary more when viewed by race/ethnicity and marital status. One commonality is that across all groups, women possess less wealth than men.
For example, Black individuals made up 20.1% of the population in poverty in 2022 but only 13.5% of the total population. This results in a ratio of 1.5, meaning that the Black population was overrepresented in poverty. The Hispanic population was also overrepresented in poverty (ratio of 1.5).
Women are statistically outperforming men in various categories, but this has not always been the case. For centuries, boys seemingly held the upper hand in various facets of life like academics and careers. However, a shift is underway, with girls increasingly outperforming boys in education and the workforce.
It's more expensive to raise a girl than a boy
Shockingly, boys are much cheaper than girls! As this infographic from MoneyTips makes clear, it costs more to raise girls in a range of areas – adding up to $17,280 more over 18 years.
The Federal Reserve conducted an extensive analysis of the credit scores of thousands of men and women. They found that among men and women of similar ages, men and women have nearly identical credit scores, but the average man's score is slightly higher.
Running up $50,000 in credit card debt is not impossible. About two million Americans do it every year. Paying off that bill?
Higher percentages of Black (88 percent) and American Indian/Alaska Native (87 percent) students received grants than students who were of Two or more races (79 percent), White (74 percent), and Asian (66 percent).
The Federal Reserve System was the largest domestic holder of U.S. public debt, with holdings of $5.24 trillion. Debt held by the public represents the amount borrowed by the U.S. Treasury from external lenders via financial markets to fund government operations.
In 2022, women saved on average $3,146, while men saved an average of $7,007, according to the New York Life's 2023 Wealth Watch survey. By the time women retire, we have 44% less saved than men, according to a Vanguard study.
Women spend almost $35 trillion on consumer goods
According to Capital One Shopping Research, women spend nearly $35 trillion globally on consumer goods, equivalent to 50% of worldwide consumer spending. American women tend to shop more than men, with 39.4% of women shopping on any given day, compared to 33.7% of men.
So, while women are often stereotyped as being bad with money, this data shows that women and men have similar financial habits — women being a bit more conscientious about saving and men a bit more frugal on spending.
Single women donors on average give higher dollar amounts to charity than single men. Divorced/separated, never-married, and widowed women are more likely to give, and give higher amounts, than their male counterparts.
In one British study, two thirds of parents said teenage girls were harder to raise than teenage boys. In the end parenting is tough work, no matter what the sex of the child. According to the World Health Organization, the ratio of male to female births is about 105 boys to 100 girls.
In 2022, 67.9 percent of men ages 25 and older were employed, compared with 55.4 percent of women.
Women around the world report higher levels of life satisfaction than men, but at the same time report more daily stress.
Of the 3,194 billionaires in the world in 2022, only 12.5 percent were women, meaning that there were 399 billionaires worldwide. Whereas male billionaires tend to be self-made, 45 percent of the female billionaires in 2020 had inherited their fortune.
Similar to the prior study, men were 30% less likely to report feeling love than women. Additionally, men and women were about equally likely to report feelings of partner love, but men were 43% less likely to report feeling love toward a child and 38% less likely to report feeling love toward another family member.
Poverty in U.S. states
Among U.S. states, Mississippi had the highest poverty rate in 2018 (19.7% poverty rate), followed by Louisiana (18.65%), New Mexico (18.55%) and West Virginia (17.10%).
The following 44 countries were still listed as least developed countries by the UN as of December 2024: Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, ...