Falling wages: women in their thirties are worse off since 2010

New figures suggest that women in their thirties are £4,000+ per year worse off.

Jana Hlistova

Nov 26, 2023

Transcript

Welcome to our #214 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we highlight new figures which show that women in their thirties are £4,000+ per year worse off than they were in 2010.

We calculate if women had invested this amount per year at a 7% return, how much additional investment income they would have today.

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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

Falling wages: women in their thirties are worse off since 2010

New figures suggest that women in their thirties are £4,000+ per year worse off.

New figures show that women in their thirties are £4,000+ per year worse off then they were in 2010, as reported by Sky News.

The median full-time salary for women aged 30-39 dropped from £37,899 (April, 2010) to £33,740 (April, 2023), leaving them on average £4,159 or £350 per month worse off (in real terms).

The calculation was made using the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks the average change in prices paid by consumers over a period of time for a basket of goods and services.

As the price of goods and services go up, purchasing power (or how much we can afford to buy) is eroded.

What is often missed in these calculations is the opportunity cost of not investing this money and losing out on compounding interest over time.

If we assume a 7% return on £4,200 per annum over the thirteen year period, this totals £58,422 of lost potential income.

Given that the average pension for women in the UK is typically just £43,117 (which is almost half of a man’s pension), the £58,422 represents a substantial financial loss to women.

And if we extend the time period to twenty years, assuming the same 7% return per annum, this comes to £89,880 of lost income.

We know that women have a different life trajectory to men and as a result are exposed to greater financial risk.

Women are paid less than men (on average), they are more likely to interrupt their career, take on part-time work and they live longer, which costs more.

Without an adequate ‘financial buffer’, women continue to suffer the impact of inflation which negatively compounds over time and limits their financial strength.

What next? (Re) listen to The Purse Podcast:

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