Material Girls

My Star colleague Carol Goar, a former Parliament Hill columnist who now writes for our editorial page, today tackled the subject of women's spending/saving and the connection to the economy and the coming  federal budget:

A survey released by the Boston Consulting Group this month showed that:

• 65 per cent of women plan to cut spending, compared to 58 per cent of men.
• 41 per cent of women feel they are in too much debt, compared to 27 per cent of men.
• 30 per cent of women are insecure about their finances, compared to 19 per cent of men.
• 14 per cent of women are worried about losing their job, compared to 10 per cent of men.

"More and more, women are defining the consumer economy," said Cliff Grevler, managing director of the company's Canadian office. "Our research suggests that women control 68 per cent of consumer spending in Canada. They are the accountants of the household budget."

This has implications for next week's federal budget.

Consumer spending is the largest contributor to Canada's economic health. It accounts for 55 cents of every dollar of national output.

To keep cash circulating, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will have to address women's anxieties.

Across-the-board tax cuts aren't likely to do it. Women are predisposed to save, not spend, any extra money they get.

Nor are traditional infrastructure projects – roads, bridges, sewers, public transit, power plants and transmission lines – likely to alleviate women's worries. Few work in heavy construction.

If Flaherty wants to bring women back into the marketplace, he needs advisers who understand their concerns and can speak from their perspective.

Unfortunately, there are few strong female voices in Ottawa.

Phew. That's a lot of issues in a few lines.

First, the BCG study, which shows that we Canadians, already in much better fiscal shape than our American cousins, plan to hunker down more than they do.

"Compared with U.S. consumers, Canadian consumers are entering the downturn with more secure household finances, healthier real-estate fundamentals, and more conservative levels of credit and debt. Despite this structural superiority, Canadians are battening down the hatches and bracing for a tough year ahead," said Cliff Grevler, a BCG partner. "Canadian consumers are planning cutbacks in 2009 to a greater degree than their U.S. counterparts. We anticipate that the result will be a 'cycle of thrift' in Canada, and it will have self-fulfilling effects." 

Now, if women don't spend money, and there's no doubt -- at least judging from the research advertising experts do -- they make most of the household buying decisions, from detergent brands to children's clothing, then retail is going to nosedive. If retail nosedives, then so do many women's jobs, especially for those women who work part-time to supplement the family income.

That women overall have higher debt is not surprising. We make less and we have higher expenses. It costs more to dry clean a blouse than a man's shirt. Even the cheapest women's haircuts cost more than a trim at the barber's. Plus we have the joy of purchasing expensive menstrual products and pantyhose. What's more, too many young women run up their credit cards on trendy clothes and pricey cocktails, gym memberships and manicures, all in the name of keeping up with the celebrity looks that the media inundate them with.

And Carol's point about not enough women in positions of power in Harper's government is one that I have repeatedly made. More female voices are needed at the big decision-making level.

But I am not sure that infrastructure improvement wouldn't help women since (a) there's no reason why women can't be in construction assuming they're accepted and get the same kind of training men do and (2) there are many spin-off jobs that get created. Furthermore, better public transit, just to name one example, would make it easier for women to get to work, and to get to daycares.

Of course daycares would be a big help, and would create jobs as well.

There's a lot of talent that gets wasted in this country because too many women fall off the career ladder and get on the mommy track and then, when they're ready to go back to work, the support isn't there.

If, as so many conservatives argue ad nauseum, we need more kids to keep our economy going, it stands to reason that they would support financial incentives and mechanisms so that women can have children and can earn money if they need and/or want to.

You think that's going to happen in the budget?

Not if the government's disastrous economic statement of last November is any indication. In that, it attempted to kill the chances of women achieving some form of wage equity for work of equal value.

I'm not holding my breath for next week.

Comments

[MensRightsNow]

What a load of crap. WOW! Women purchase 80% of all consumer goods and services. 75% of every store at a mall is marketed exclusively to women, and you expect us to believe women are savers???? With the exception of sports, almost all television is marketed to women! Look at the commercials! Women are SPENDERS...BIG TIME...... especially other people's money!

[MensRightsNow]

That women overall have higher debt is not surprising. We make less and we have higher expenses. It costs more to dry clean a blouse than a man's shirt. Even the cheapest women's haircuts cost more than a trim at the barber's. Plus we have the joy of purchasing expensive menstrual products and pantyhose. What's more, too many young women run up their credit cards on trendy clothes and pricey cocktails, gym memberships and manicures, all in the name of keeping up with the celebrity looks that the media inundate them with.

Wow....look at that quote! Holy crap Antonia! I can't even bother arguing how ridiculous it is....women's debt is someone else's fault...in a nutshell.

[skdadl]

The major reason women still make most day-to-day consumer decisions is that women do most of the domestic work in most families -- and that will logically mean that they do most of the shopping, which is work, which requires reflective thought about what is needed to keep the household going -- thought that too many men still just don't seem to be up to.

[Keith]

Ah yes, it's always someone else's fault when a women choice results in a hardship for the women. Those hateful men put those credit cards in her purse and made her go to the mall and buy that blouse she had to dry clean. Damn now she has to go to the salon for some her time to talk about how she is so controled by men which is code for not my fault I cann't stop shopping.

Get a job hanging steal in the -10 and you will have the equal wage you are looking for. Opps sorry, I forgot the topic was equal wages for unequal work.

[Kat]

@MensRightsNow: Does it ever occur to you that not all women, not even the majority of women, receive child care support? Or that some marriages are set up financially so that each partner doesn't spend the other's money?

The numbers at the top of Antonia's blog post contradict your points about spending. Women are statistically more likely to save, not spend, even if that doesn't suit your agenda.

[Keith]

..."the chances of women achieving some form of wage equity for work of equal value."

Interesting concept. ProLife Advocates should get paid the same as doctors because they accomplish the same value of saving lives. Abortion activists should be put in jail because they assist in the taking of lives and supply the equal value that criminals do.

[Hayley]

"too many young women run up their credit cards on trendy clothes ... gym memberships and manicures..."

This is another hidden cost that women have to pay to reach a level playing field with men. It's essential for a woman with a job in middle management or higher to spend (relatively) huge amounts of time and money to make themselves look shiny and blow-dried and slim and plucked and apple-cheeked (sexy, but not _too_ sexy) to compete with the men at such levels.

I personally have as much interest as most men in getting a manicure or a make-over (i.e. none), but, unlike a man, I can forget about that corner office job unless I submit myself to it.

[mozo]

Keith, pro-choice advocates do not demand that every women must have an abortion, only that women have the viable, legal and safe option of an abortion - if they so choose. Anti-choice advocates are demanding that women not be allowed to make a choice, nor have the legal option for an abortion, even in extreme cases such as rape.

It is also my observation that a vast majority of anti-choice advocates are also strong advocates for capital punishment. Hmmm, sounds like another version of MURDER!?!?!

[MensRightsNow]

Kat, my point is that they are bogus stats! My wife and I shared our identical incomes and she spent like a mofo! Chicks love to shop...and it ain't just for "household goods" LOL!!!!!!

[Antonia Zerbisias]

Men's Rights?

That's hardly a scientific sample.

[Chris Moorehead]

You're attracting more than a few comments from individuals with significant anger management issues, Antonia. Perhaps they need to have their meds adjusted?

[MensRightsNow]

Any science would fall on deaf ears Antonia, just like domestic violence statistics.

Chris, shaming language means we're winning, you've got to do better my friend. ;-)

[sooey]

Excessive use of LOLs and exclamation points is a scientific indicator of sexism, I've noticed.

[Luna]

Plus we have the joy of purchasing expensive menstrual products

Check out the Diva Cup and save yourself scads of money! :)

And it is amazing how hateful these men are. Sad, really.

[Chris Moorehead]

Since we appear to be using anecdotes as a substitute for actual data, MensRightsNow...my successful lawyer wife, who makes the lion's share of our family income, also enjoys shopping. However, virtually all of her shopping is focused on purchasing groceries & items for our kids. In terms of "frivolous" shopping, her recent purchases have been confined to high-end stereo components (for me), and a lovely cashmere overcoat from the Harry Rosen post-Christmas sale (also for me). Generally, her very few "splurges" tend to be on shoes, & this is because she has hard-to-fit feet & has a difficult time finding shoes that don't hurt. (Litigation lawyers really need to dress well - indeed, a lawyer can be tossed out of court if his/her wardrobe offends the presiding judge.)

Since I'm the one that tends to buy Starbucks lattes, CDs, rare & obscure books, and sports equipment, my anecdotal evidence would indicate that women are indeed far more cautious and sensible shoppers than men.