Women and Money in India: The road to Economic Independence

The statistics need to change. Here's what we have. 'Women perform around 60 percent of the world's work, and create around 50 percent of the sustenance, yet win just around 10 percent of the salary and possess around 1 percent of the property.' Imagine putting money in the hands of women? What do we get? A road to financial independence.

You really don't want to end up being in a position where you are forced to think of your finances. Start now.

Women use financial products in different ways than men and have different priorities. Importantly, for most part women don't think of themselves as investors or savers. And that's why we need more dialogue on women and money in India. We all need to help women earn more, save & invest more and spend smarter.

Traditionally women in India have been home makers not bread winners. There has been some change in the recent decades where increased education and better awareness has put women in the spotlight. On one hand, as cost of living goes up, many people are opting for dual incomes. And there are women who are also putting careers on equal keel, finding themselves in positions to earn. But we could do with more women at the workplace? And more women managing their money? Yes absolutely.

“Economic Independence of women is essential for economic development.”

Different age group and categories as married, single, divorcee, single parent, separated of women have different kinds of needs for economic independence and each of these group of women face different kind of problems and challenges in doing so. Financial strength and freedom of women is fundamental for the advancement of any society.

Women use financial products in different ways than men and have different priorities

And so think about these.

Manage your own money: You really don't want to end up being in a position where you are forced to think of your finances. Start now.

Earn. And focus on it: To save and invest, earning is important. Think of working just however suits you. From home or office or co working spaces. As a freelancer or permanent. But earn. Because earning will empower you to save and invest.

Dealing with debts: Think of investing because it helps you get rid of debts.

Save for later in life: Spending is addictive but saving is a plan. Don't over save, but do save something to make your later needs easier to deal with.

Women who can get themselves into a position of earning will find themselves having more control over their lives and space. This is a source of confidence and raises the development in their communities. Being economically independent improves reputation and brings forth more opportunity and freedom in society. There are two sides of this coin, one is being economically independent and the other is being financially literate. And so it's worth making a beginning on both.

Think of being wealthy, women!