The power of women is growing along with their finances.
Not only will women control the majority of wealth in the future, but it”™s likely they”™ll spend it on empowering their own gender around the world.
By 2030 women will hold two-thirds of the nation”™s wealth, which is expected to dramatically shift how philanthropic investments are made, according to PAX World Management L.L.C., which bills itself as the first “socially responsible” mutual fund.
Whereas men have historically approached money as ethically neutral and compartmentalized investments into moral, political and high-return categories, women are more inclined to take a holistic approach, speakers said at a recent event at UBS Financial Services Inc. in Stamford.
Studies show women are more likely to invest when certain social, environmental and governance goals align, speakers said, and will accept a higher risk or lower return on investments that produce positive impacts on society and their own families.
Therefore, as women”™s control over money increases, philanthropy experts are urging women to invest in other women and girls, perpetuating the power of “the women effect.”
“What”™s the challenge of moral philosophy in the 21st century, our century?” said Victoria Bjorklund, head of the Exempt Organizations Group at New York law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. “It”™s women and how women are treated. This century is going to be defined by what we and others in the world do about women.”
Bjorklund was one of several speakers urging investments in women Jan. 31 at the second annual Women Inspiring Women philanthropy event, hosted by UBS and the Fairfield County Community Foundation.
Listing the brutalities inflicted on women around the world and in the U.S., like sex trafficking, genital mutilation, rape and denial of education, Bjorklund said there is something for everyone to do.
“In countries where girls are uneducated, women are marginalized,” she said. “We know that that”™s a very critical combination to turn our attention to. Those are the same countries that are mired in chaos and violence and poverty. They go hand and hand.”
But when women are given access to education and financial support, they”™re likely to spend their money in ways that help their families, community and society.
“By investing in girls and women, your results are multiplied,” Bjorklund said.
Globally women are expected to inherit 70 percent of the $41 trillion in inter-generational wealth over the next 40 years, according to PAX. It”™s an opportunity to make sustainable investments, both globally and locally, speakers said.
Whereas American women have made great strides in equality over the past decades, women, including those in Fairfield County, are often less economically secure than their male counterparts.
In Fairfield County, women represent 57 percent of those in poverty and a wage gap of 72 cents, per every dollar a man makes, still persists.
Even when Connecticut men and women hold the same position, women are paid 5 percent to 10 percent less than their male counterparts, according to the results of a recent gender wage gap study.
Since 1998 the Fairfield County Community Foundation”™s Fund for Women and Girls has awarded more than $3 million in grants to more than 50 organizations supporting women. However, officials say there is more work to be done.
“Collectively we can come together to make a difference,” said Fiona Hodgson, the Community Foundation”™s vice president of development and marketing. “But there”™s still a lot of work to do.”
