Financial Feminism in Four Steps
How can we run the world if we don’t own it?
By Lisa Courbebaisse, Founders' Associate at Your Juno
Financial feminism means getting a better understanding of your wealth, learning to grow it, and helping other women to do the same.
The way we spend and invest impacts our lives, and the world around us, and money can be a powerful tool to support gender equality, if your financial situation allows you to.
Follow these four tips to get started.
1. Change your money mindset
Our financial beliefs shape our choices. It's common to inherit your feelings about money from society or your family. Understanding them can help make money something that empowers you, rather than a source of stress.
A study by Brandon Klontz revealed four ‘money scripts’ or behaviours you might identity with:
Money Avoidance: Fear and disgust towards money, feeling guilty for wanting more
Money Worship: Believing money is the key to happiness, always wanting more
Money Status: Equating self-worth with net worth, seeking status through material possessions
Money Vigilance: Valuing frugality and saving, anxiety about spending and keeping income private
Reflect on how money was discussed in your home and the ideas that have had influence over you. For instance, did you grow up hearing that ‘‘making money has to be a struggle” or that “people with money are shallow and greedy”?
Consider how these beliefs have impacted your life, and try to counter them with ideas that reflect another perspective. This could be: “I deserve to be paid for my skills, time and knowledge” or “Money is important to me, but there are other things that can make me happy too”. Re-evaluating can help you work towards a healthier relationship with money.
2. Spend for impact
The way you spend money impacts the world, every single day. With every credit card swipe or Apple Pay tap, you support companies, individuals, their values, and their operations.
So, by being deliberate about where you spend your money, if you are able to, you can support female-led businesses, eco-friendly initiatives, local markets, LGBTQ+ inclusive spaces, or whatever your ethical compass desires.
3. Negotiate your salary
A study from academic Linda Babcock’s book Women Don’t Ask revealed that only around 7% of women attempted to negotiate their first salary, contrary to 57% of men.
Because sexism is built into the workplace, we aren’t keen to ask for more. Negotiating your salary will set a precedent for other women – your colleagues or family and friends – to do the same. You deserve a sexy salary, and so do the other women in your life. You can find helpful salary negotiation frameworks in the Juno app.
4. Unleash your inner investor
You most likely already are an investor. If you have a pension, your money is invested in a financial product on your behalf. And if your financial situation allows, you can invest even more, and there’s no reason to think you won’t be good at it.
When women do invest, they behave very similarly to men, and may even slightly outperform them, according to recent data from Interactive Investor. You can be a successful and adventurous investor, and choose a level of risk you feel good about.
Closing the investment gap between men and women – which currently stands at £500 billion in the UK – is the ultimate financial feminist move. Increasing women’s shares in the corporate world means simultaneously enhancing our wealth and decision making power. How can we run the world if we don’t own it?
Nothing bad happens when women have more money.
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