Yahoo Finance UK female investors to be £15,000 worse off than men by 2030
Men who start investing their savings now will be £15,337 ($21,132) better off than women by 2030, a new study has shown.
According to investment platform Freetrade, the difference between men and women grows larger year-on-year due to the fact that men have more money saved which they can invest, causing a "gender investment gap".
The study analysed how much investors would make by 2030 if they invested 10% of their average annual income. Over the last 119 years, UK stocks have made annualised returns of +4.9% over and above inflation, according to the 2019 Barclays Equity Gilt Study.
Based on regional average salary data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the research shows that if both men and women started investing in 2020, men would make a £1,147 greater return on their investments. This is because the gender pay gap means women have less to invest and will therefore receive a much lower monetary return.
British men, who take home an average of £31,445 per year, are expected to make £3,299 this year if they start investing. British women, on the other hand, will only make £2,152 because their average annual salary is much lower at £20,515.
The research estimates male investors will have made £44,123 by the turn of the next decade. For women, however, this figure is just £28,786. Overall, this means there is a £15,337 discrepancy.
The city with the highest gap between men and women is Lichfield. The current gender pay gap is £17,531 there, according to the ONS, with men earning £39,910 per year and women earning £22,379.
READ MORE: UK women earn less salary as peak pay gap rises over £8,000
Because of this, female investors stand to make £24,599 less than men by 2030. Men will have made a £56,001 return on their investments compared to £31,402 for women.
Just behind Lichfield are cities such as Brighton (where the gender investment gap is £18,946), Lancaster (£17,297) and Derby (£17,297).
The city with the smallest difference is Nottingham where the investment gap will be £7,211 by 2030. Men are expected to have made £34,663 compared to women at £27,452 by 2030. Closely behind Nottingham are Dundee (£7,301), Swansea (£7,638) and Westminster (£7,743).
This discrepancy highlights just one of the many reasons why it is imperative for employers to continue their efforts to equalise the gender pay gap,” Dan Lane, senior analyst at Freetrade, said.
“These figures should not discourage women from investing as figures show the gender pay gap is closing every year. As it does, we hope women will eventually be able to see roughly equal returns from investment in monetary terms as men, so now is a perfect time to start building your portfolio”.
WATCH: Why do we still have a gender pay gap?
