Women are managing more assets than ever before as personal investors, business leaders and financial decisionmakers both at work and at home. Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis, and C. Nicole Mason, president and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, join Washington Post Live to discuss how women can grow their wealth to the fullest potential, navigate the current uncertainties in the economy and overcome structural barriers like the wage gap.
“As soon as the pandemic hit, I worked twice as hard, probably you did too. Because it changed women's roles in their family and their workplace… There was a lot of elder care and childcare demands that impacted their labor force participation. So, I'm really watching how much that one year or two-year absence from the labor force will affect eventual wealth accumulation."- Teresa Ghilarducci (Video: Washington Post Live)
“If we keep at the same pace, it will take 60 years for us to close the pay gap... But for Black women it will take 100 years, for Latina women it would take 200 years to close the pay gap. And it's only closed about 20 cents in the last 50 years… That’s money you don’t have for a down payment on your house. Your goals get delayed, that’s less money you have to pay for your children’s education, to save for retirement. So, it really does hurt your bottom line. Even if all you want to do is go to brunch, you can’t do that with less money. For many women it’s really consequential… Because we really don’t have 200 hundred years to wait to reach pay parity.”- C. Nicole Mason (Video: Washington Post Live)
“20 years ago, this would not even have been a major demand. The idea that women are doing necessary care work for free, it’s necessary for the economy and that all families, sons too, are going to be faced with the long-term care needs of their parents is now a national conversation… Need is affecting tens of millions more people… Just the sheer size of the Boomers coming into their needy years and the generation behind them being more educated, this is going to be a demand. Just like social security was obvious, this is totally obvious.”- Teresa Ghilarducci (Video: Washington Post Live)
“The cost of childcare for most working families is out of control. Families can spend up to 30 percent of their income, sometimes more, especially if you have more than one child, on care. For me, there’s really no way around it. We do need universal childcare or federal support for childcare to support families. It sounds like a utopia… but we have to remember that one time, when we needed women workers in the workforce, we did have subsidized childcare and many other countries, in similar positions as the U.S. also has universal childcare. It would really be a game-changer for, not only women’s earnings, but also being able to focus on other things like housing, buying a home, saving.” - C. Nicole Mason (Video: Washington Post Live)
“We have to be really mindful of buying things to make us happy for the short run... The serotonin and dopamine hit that you get from buying something lasts for about 24 hours. And often what that buying does is just create another need for another dopamine surge to go buy that next thing. So, it will often breed more dissatisfaction than satisfaction.”- Teresa Ghilarducci (Video: Washington Post Live)
Michelle Singletary
Personal Finance Columnist, The Washington Post
Teresa Ghilarducci
Professor of Economic Policy Analysis, The New School
C. Nicole Mason
President & CEO, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
Content from Fidelity Investments
The following content is produced and paid for by a Washington Post Live event sponsor. The Washington Post newsroom is not involved in the production of this content.
Advertisement
Investing involves risk, including risk of loss.
Views expressed are as of 11/1/2022, based on the information available at that time, and may change based on market or other conditions. Unless otherwise noted, the opinions provided are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of Fidelity Investments or its affiliates. Fidelity does not assume any duty to update any of the information.
This information is intended to be educational and is not tailored to the investment needs of any specific investor.
Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC, 900 Salem Street, Smithfield, RI 02917
Volatility, inflation, and your money
Investing involves risk, including risk of loss.
Views expressed are as of 11/1/2022, based on the information available at that time, and may change based on market or other conditions. Unless otherwise noted, the opinions provided are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of Fidelity Investments or its affiliates. Fidelity does not assume any duty to update any of the information.
This information is intended to be educational and is not tailored to the investment needs of any specific investor.
Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC, 900 Salem Street, Smithfield, RI 02917 (Video: Washington Post Live)
This past year has seen volatile markets and the highest price increases in over a decade.
What does it all mean for your money? In this segment from Fidelity Wealth Management, Denise Chisholm, Director of Quantitative Market Strategy, breaks down what’s happening in the markets and suggests actions investors may want to consider.
