We know that women make up a large portion of the U.S. work force, that many women in the work force are college educated, and that many women excel in their jobs. As we noted in a Zarb Means Business post last week: “Although women executives are often paid less than their male counterparts and may have a tougher time moving up the career ladder, women executives have a lot to offer!!”
So, how do U.S. men and women fare in the credit reporting arena? And what is the true gender pay gap?
As recently reported by Jim Probasco for Investopedia:
“A recent study by Credit Sesame found that men tend to have higher credit scores than women: The average score for men was 630, while the average for women was 621. It’s not a major gap, even Credit Sesame admits. Even so, what do the results reveal about the differences between the genders when it comes to credit?” [For example,] “Credit Sesame found that the credit discrepancy gets wider with age. This discrepancy culminates at about age 65 when men tend to have a 15-point credit score advantage over women.”
“Men: More Debt But Better Records. Credit Sesame’s study showed that men carry more credit card debt than women – a fact that at first makes their better credit scores seem paradoxical. But not really, if you understand how scores are calculated. Credit scores are based, in part, on how close your expenditures have come to your credit card limit (that is, the amount you can charge on the card).”
“Fortunately, for women, the credit battle of the sexes is only one battle in a very long war. How Women Investors Make Money –- and Data Suggests Women Are Better (Behaved) Investors from a Betterment study of its clients -– point to women’s advantage in staying the course and ending up with higher returns.”
“For both sexes, the key factors to achieving and maintaining a good credit score remain prudent use of your cards (leave a healthy margin in between your balance and your credit limit) and paying all bills on time.”
Click the image to read more from Investopedia; and look at the infographic below the image on compensation by PayScale.
According to PayScale, the gender income gap may be less than reported: “Yes, men do earn more than women on average, but not that much more when they work the same job and they have similar experience and abilities.”
I think its a shame that inequality between sexes still exists. One of the main goals for the millennium was reduce this pay gap. But sadly we have not been able to do so.
This is a very interesting topic, before seeing this article, i never think about that there is a credit score difference between men and women, and also the men always can get a higher credit score. Apparently, according the calculation standard of credit score, it is bot difficult to understand why men that earn more and spend more can get a higher score. However, i think the trend in future is that the credit score of women will increase and almost catch up with men’s, because men do earn more than women on average, but not that much more when they work the same job and they have similar experience and abilities.
Something I realized when studying the salary inequalities between men and women is that men are more likely than women to negotiate a salary when offered a job. I think that the U.S has been working towards creating a more gender equality conscious working environment, but this has to start with families. Little girls need to be given the confidence that they are capable of any job their heart desires, and as women go through school – they should be taught to truly understand their worth and how to negotiate. One of my biggest challenges was coming up with the confidence to decline a job offer and to negotiate the salary before accepting the job, and I was only able to do so after consistent talks from my father teaching me what I should expect going into the working field. My initial reaction was to be grateful for what I received, but he explained to me that I should not forget the things that set me apart from other candidates and that negotiating (even if it doesn’t result in an increased starting salary), shows confidence in self worth. I think if women were raised from the beginning to understand self worth, it would positively contribute to lessening the salary gap difference. Sometimes all you have to do is ask.