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 But with this added financial responsibility comes tremendous
stress, according to a new study of breadwinning women from the
Family Wealth Advisors Council, a national network of independent
wealth management firms.
The group's survey of more than 1,000 working women finds that women
are spread too thin when it comes to their familial and financial
duties.
Reuters spoke to Heather Ettinger, a managing partner of Fairport
Asset Management in Cleveland, Ohio, and co-author of the study,
about the critical issues facing women breadwinners.
Q. What impact does the role of breadwinner have on women?
A. Sadly, it's a role of stress, stress, stress. She is caring for
her kids, maybe her parents and even kids in the next generation. In
fact, 40 percent of the women surveyed acknowledge that they feel
pressure from family and friends to downplay their breadwinner
status, and 28 percent of married or committed women reported that
their parents actually disapprove of their breadwinner role.
Q. How is this stress affecting her finances?
A. It's not that the women don't want to be in control, they just
don't have time. Women are taking on 75 percent of all family
financial planning, and, in some cases, they are assuming as much as
90 percent of the responsibility for charitable giving, paying for
college, retirement planning and overall saving.
But there is a gap in the advisory services available: 35 percent of
these women have no financial adviser. When they do work with a
financial adviser, they say they are not satisfied with the
experience.
Meanwhile, 62 percent of women say they are leaving money on the
table in terms of getting their financial house in order and taking
advantage of a company's benefits.
Q. What happens to breadwinning women in divorce?
A. Sadly, most of them end up much worse financially than they were.
That's not necessarily different than most divorces overall, but
these women end up having to pay alimony and child support. It
creates a bigger stress emotionally, financially and in terms of
time.
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Divorced women are not only supporting themselves, but members of
their extended family as well. That might explain why many of them
report not being as knowledgeable as they would like to be about
their finances. What's interesting is that divorced women in our
study felt the least supported in workplace. By contrast, the widows
felt the most supported.
Q. Are breadwinning women taking advantage of flexible work
situations?
A. Nearly 85 percent of the women we surveyed said companies are
doing an excellent job of providing technology that gives them the
ability to be more flexible. That's really important, but 46 percent
of them are also saying: 'My employer is not supporting my needs in
terms of a work-life balance.'
When it comes to their jobs, they are some are getting more
leadership training and mentoring. But there is still a big gap
between: 'I'm going to help coach you in your career,' and 'I'm
going to make sure you are getting a defined career path.'
There is an opportunity here for companies to really differentiate
themselves in terms of talent development as well as attracting and
retaining women.
(The author is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are her
own.)
(Editing by Lauren Young, G Crosse)
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