Welcome to our #222 weekly newsletter.
“For women taking control of their financial future”
-Jana Hlistova
From The Purse
In this week’s newsletter, we focus on the rising childcare costs in the UK/US, and how this continues to impact women who bear the burden of childcare.
But change is afoot in the UK-read on for more.
And don’t forget to listen to The Purse Podcast interview with Roxane Sanguinetti and Marla Shapiro. We talk about the introduction of the new financial thresholds for high net worth individuals and how this disproportionately impacts women, ethnic minorities and female-founded startups.
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And you can review the news in brief so you stay on top of global financial, economic and investing trends.
I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.
Until next week,
Jana
Childcare costs are rising and women continue to bear the burden
Rising inflation is pushing childcare costs to levels never seen before.
But governments around the world are not doing enough. And women are being forced to opt out of work, reduce their hours which means they lose out on promotions.
All of which impacts how much personal wealth women can grow over time. And how much money they have available for their retirement, despite living longer than men and with poorer health.
Also referred to as the motherhood penalty:
a mothers's salary falls by approximately 40%+
ten years after having a child (UK).
Conversely, men who are married with kids get a wage bonus of 21%+ (according to TUC study).
Study after study shows that increasing female participation in the workplace promotes GDP growth, reduces levels of inequality and poverty. However women continue to bear the burden of childcare because it is so expensive.
The average day care fees went up 6% in 2023 from the previous year, according to mobility company ECA International, as reported by Bloomberg.
In the US, an estimated $237bn a year vanishes due to women paring back their workloads to care for kids. In the EU, that number is around €242bn ($255bn).
And some women have fewer children or decide to have none at all, simply because of the expense. Many are now being forced to return to the workplace, limiting flexible or remote working.
OECD data shows that parents in the UK spend on average 29% of their household income.
However, the UK government has started to make inroads:
…all working parents with children under the age of five should be able to access 30 hours of subsidised child care a week by September 2025, when the full measures will be implemented.
Whilst childcare affordability is an issue, so is the low take up by fathers of shared parental leave. This was estimated at only 2-8% in 2019.
Societal and gender norms continue to influence who takes up the majority of childcare.
What next?
News in Brief
Financial news
China rout continues w/CSI 300 down >1% after Apple's shocking China sales numbers.
S&P 500 plunged 1.6%, the biggest decline since September, after Federal indicated March rate cut unlikely and on underwhelming Tech earnings.
Assuming Nvidia meets estimates, the Magnificant Seven generated $523bn in sales during 4Q, +14%YoY. Revenue growth for remaining 493 S&P 500 stocks was a comparatively paltry 2%.
Dollar gains and US yields jumped on huge US jobs data beat. US NFP at 353k way above the estimated 185k, wages came in hotter than expected +4.5% year-on-year vs +4.1% expected. Unemployment rate held flat month on month at 3.7%.
Meta shares jump 10%+ to fresh ATH of $443 after blowout numbers and buyback boost by $50bn + initiates quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share.
It was only a couple of years back Meta suffered single biggest market value destruction in stock market history. Now stock rose 20%, gain added $197bn to its market cap, biggest single-session market value addition, eclipsing $190bn gains made by Apple and Amazon in 2022.
Bank of England sticks with 5.25% interest rate but hints at coming cut. Inflation forecast to temporarily fall below 2% in May as policymakers’ vote on base rate splits three ways.
UK looks increasingly isolated in its anti-crypto ETF stance: Spot bitcoin exchange-traded products are already available in the US, Europe, Australia, Brazil and Canada.
Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs
Bitcoin, ethereum end the week strong after a rocky start. The price of bitcoin is now $42,778.
The price of ethereum, dropped earlier in the week—facing bigger losses than BTC—before making gains. Ethereum (ETH) is now up a meager 2% over the week and is trading hands for $2,289.
Over the past week, it's one of the biggest gainers, the price of Solana jumped by more than 10% for the week ending yesterday. It's now trading hands for $96.48
Bitcoin 'Power Law' predicts $1m BTC price by 2033. Bitcoin's price is a ‘force of nature’ that scales over time much like a city, according to this astrophysicist.
The Purse Podcast
We cover the following in this conversation:
Angel investing: how Roxane and Marla got started
Why invest in female founder startups
The difference between an angel network and an angel syndicate
The changes to the Financial Promotions Exemptions
How women and ethnic minorities will be disproportionately impacted
How can we encourage more women to invest in the startup ecosystem and back female founders?
More+
Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+
Coffee Break? Read This
My life with Shere Hite: the forgotten feminist who changed sex for ever
Does having babies really make women more productive? I felt as if I had been dismantled
We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka.
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Childcare costs are rising and women continue to bear the burden. And listen to the podcast interview with Roxane Sanguinetti and Marla Shapiro