Women more likely to be in charge of savings

Women are increasingly the ones to make decisions on savings in the home

09:45 08 March 2005

Women are three times as likely to have the final say about pensions, savings and mortgages than their partners, according to new research.

While the majority of those asked said financial choices were a joint decision, only seven per cent of attached women left matters to their partner, while 24 per cent said they made the majority of decisions themselves, according to GMAC-RFC - the UK's 12th largest mortgage lender.

In addition, when asked about mortgages specifically, women were twice as likely as men to be the ones with the final say.

"Traditionally financial decisions were seen as the man's domain, but this research shows most couples are discussing financial matters and making joint decisions," noted Anna Bennett, marketing manager at GMAC-RFC.

"If one person is responsible, according to women it is three times as likely to be the woman. Women's increased spending power obviously means they now have a more than equal say in their finances," she added.

However, the vast majority of joint decisions were found to be made with both partners contributing. Overall 70 per cent of couples made joint decisions and more than four mortgage decisions in five were made with both partners contributing.

Additionally, more than two thirds of the women who were not responsible for all the decisions said they knew as much as their partner on financial matters, but were happy for their other half to make the final decision on their behalf.

"The fact the majority of women questioned would be quite happy for their partner to take control of financial decisions could mean that if it was left to their partner, it simply wouldn't get done," added Ms Bennett.