April 2021
Efforts in recent decades to advance gender equality have succeeded in increasing women’s economic participation. There are still many barriers, however, experienced by low-income women that prevent them from achieving their own definitions of financial well-being. Barriers such as low-skilled precarious labour and the pressures of caregiving make accruing savings difficult, placing low-income women in a vulnerable position for later in life. By using choice discourses prevalent in neoliberal schools of thought to place blame on individuals for their financial vulnerability, low-income women are further marginalized. This discourse is prevalent in financial literacy education in Canada and therefore undermines the challenges that marginalized groups face in achieving financial well-being. Because of this narrow focus, there is a gap in the literature that this paper fills.
To highlight key issues for low-income women this paper uses evidence provided by the Canadian Financial Diaries research project (CFD). The CFD analyzed the finances of 29 low-income individuals over a one-year period, including weekly interviews with the participants and two longer interviews concerned with financial well-being (see Transcript 1). This paper will use the data from four of those participants to better understand the challenges faced by low-income women in achieving financial well-being. Emerging themes include: a high level of awareness of spending; anxiety about lack of savings; a strong desire to contribute to their communities and families; and precarious employment. Finally, to address the inequities present in an economic system that marginalizes low-income women this paper puts forward recommendations to strengthen social infrastructure through the continued funding of financial helplines.
- For a Directed Readings course, International Development, The University of Winnipeg
- Menno Simons College, Canadian Mennonite University
Canadian Financial Diaries Research Project 