Women and wealth

So, it is easy to see why it is that our feminists aren't shouting from the rooftops about this massive new achievement of wealth for women. The fact is that most of the money that is pushing women into the top wealth category comes not from their own efforts but from the men in their lives.

Naturally, they don't even need to divorce them or wait for them to drop off the twig. The reality is, as economists will tell you, savings are simply deferred consumption. The objective of acquiring wealth is spending and here women really excel.

The hands firmly in control of spending are usually female. Some facts on spending:

• Retail – Women account for 85% of all purchases.

• Travel is increasingly dominated by women:

  - 64% of travellers worldwide are female

  - 80% of all travel decisions are made by women

  - 85% of solo travellers are women

  - 230% increase in travel companies dedicated to female clientele

• Vehicles - Women buy more than 60% of all new cars

• Property – slightly more women than men own property.

The property issue is interesting because younger women are less likely to own property than men but in middle age female ownership takes over. CoreLogic Head of Research Eliza Owen speculates, "This suggests women may be empowered to buy property later in life." Yes, well, it just so happens that this empowerment happens around ages 25-45 when divorce is most common. Reminds me of the joke about "How many divorced men does it take to change a light bulb?" No one knows, because they are homeless.

The reality is all that moaning about women's sack cloth and ashes is a smokescreen for the true picture of women's good fortune. Not only are many women ending up with all the loot when they find themselves on their own, but they are usually the ones in charge of spending the couples' money when they are together. Not exactly a hard luck story.

Leave a comment

All of this makes a mockery of our media's relentless whining about women's miserable superannuation. The ABC served up a classic just recently with the story of Debra Moxon and her dog, Georgie. Here she is..

The article follows the normal ABC format of focussing on the "lived experience" of some vacuous female friend of the reporter rather than, say, facts. Nothing new - except that, with this article, the ABC has moved beyond parody. Here's a summary:

I've got this friend Deborah. Do you know Deborah? She's lovely. You'd really like her. Well, you'll never believe what she told me. She left her job so she could go on a never-ending holiday and now she thinks she may not have enough income! And she took out her super to buy a camper van and now, like, she thinks she might not have enough super! And I just think that's so unfair. I mean, she should be given lots of money - that's just gender equality, right?

The middle of the article cuts to pronouncements from a feminist "expert" – in this case a male from the Australia Institute. Despite the ABC pushing their "women are victims" line, the Australia Institute report provides almost no support for their claim of a "retirement savings gap of 23.4%."