Man - it costs to be a woman

Once upon a time this wouldn’t have mattered much, because men were expected to support their wives and provide them with lifelong security. These days, we are each an economic island, separate from others.

To make matters worse, women live longer and so will have to support themselves for longer on less. Do we have to choose? An elegant summer dress to wear a few times in the gorgeous prime of life - or two months of meals at age 87? Of course, there’s always the remote chance a vintage clothing shop might buy the dress for hard cash after four or five decades …

It’s a real problem, shopping v saving. As University of New South Wales researcher Dr Diana Olsberg puts it, “it is difficult to encourage people to save, save, save in an advertising saturated environment where people are bombarded with consumer messages to spend, spend, spend”.

But, on a positive note, some recent research attributes women’s greater longevity to the health benefits of shopping (seriously): shopping keeps you physically active, challenges the brain and helps maintain a positive self image.

So while it may cost more to be a woman, perhaps it pays to spend, after all.