Unpacking Financial Autonomy As A Contributor to Confidence For Women
When exploring the challenges that women face around the world, the spectrum is broad and often overwhelming. In 2018, when I was working on defining the area in which we would like to make an impact as AGENDA WOMEN. I came across the What Women Want Report by Kantar. The title struck me and I just had to read every last bit of this report in order to vet the authenticity of the title and better understand what gave KANTAR the authority to speak on this matter.
The report introduction read, “This year marks the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act, when the first women in the UK were granted the vote. This was the beginning of a new era, when women were treated as individuals rather than represented by their fathers or husbands. Brands started to see women as consumers in their own right. Yet recent movements, protests and marches would suggest that we’re not there yet when it comes to equality of the sexes. In our original research, we set out to explore the concept of empowerment – what it means to women in the UK today and how brands and advertising can better connect with women. We discovered that underpinning empowerment is a highly nuanced and personal experience of self-esteem. Understanding this complex anatomy of self-esteem is key for brands.”
As a media and marketing company whose purpose is to “give women the confidence” to own their future, this report was beautifully positioned to be the bedrock of our reason for being. The What Women Want Report explores five contributors to self esteem/confidence in women.
Financial Autonomy
Body Autonomy
Social Connections and Networks
Visibility and Accessibility
Freedom of speech
In unpacking financial autonomy, this was the key insight. “The ability to be financially independent is a core aspiration of all women regardless of socioeconomic background or age. Having access to your own money and control over how it's spent is a fundamental requirement among the millennial generation, in particular.”
If you have ever thought, perhaps that you were the only one struggling with financial literacy, the stats paint a different picture.
There was a 100% increase in debt counselling over lockdown. (ICAS, via Sanlam Benchmark Report 2020)
Just 6% of South Africans are on track to retire comfortably. (Brand Atlas survey of over 15 million South Africans)
49% of South Africans had no retirement plan at all. (Brand Atlas survey)
Only 49% of South Africans have enough saved to cover the bills for three months. (Sanlam internal survey, conducted by Catalyst Research & Strategy)
More than four in every ten South Africans reported their finances had been severely impacted by the pandemic. (News24 survey of over 50 000 readers)
Six in every 10 said they’d used money from their savings / emergency fund to cover their expenses. (News24)
So you are not alone! We recently hosted a panel discussion on financial independence at the 21 August Agenda Women summit. As I said on the panel - money discussions are one of my favourites because of just how empowering it can be to have confidence in your financial life.
At Agenda Women we believe that financial literacy is critical to help women reach their full financial potential and to become autonomous. So we are so excited to have partnered with Sanlam so that we can bring our community a host of free online finance tools to help you build financial confidence and skills. Why Sanlam? This company is on a mission to empower Africans. It is a purpose-led group which is dedicated to helping us all to LIVE WITH CONFIDENCE.
We had two guests on the panel who are very closely linked to Sanlam. Winners of the Sanlam Moola Money Family Game Show, Sive and Solam Mbana and Sanlam financial planner Adele Barnard. The discussion was awesome - I really urge you to go and check it out at this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUlNCoXs8Jg
A few comments really stood out, including ‘don’t just work for your money, let your money work for you’. We spend so much of our lives earning money, we should 100% be investing that money and growing it.
Sanlam has an amazing set of finance rules and Adele shared one of the most powerful ‘the best time to start saving was yesterday. The second best time is today !’. The point being, no matter how small the amount, just start investing and growing money.
We have tapped Sanlam as our financial partner to help us reach these aspirations. Sanlam’s purpose is to help millions of Africans LIVE WITH CONFIDENCE. We are excited to share a whole lot of tools, resources and insights from Sanlam. You’ll find them by visiting the Sanlam Live With Confidence page to get started on your journey to financial confidence. Also visit our website for new articles that will help you along the way.