Progress on broader equality is underway, but when it comes to finances, HR teams need to go further to bridge the wealth gap, says Anasuya Iyer, chief commercial officer at financial wellbeing provider Octopus Money.
There’s plenty to celebrate when it comes to advancing support for women in the workplace. Take gender pay gap reporting: a decade ago, it was barely on the radar, yet today it’s a staple of HR strategy. We’ve also made significant progress in normalising conversations around fertility, menopause, and parental leave.
However, an important area remains largely unaddressed when it comes to gender equality: the wealth gap. Women are often told we can “have it all”: a fulfilling career and a thriving family life. But when we look at our finances, the reality tells a different story.
Women retire with 66 percent less in their pension pot than men and must work 19 years longer to accumulate the same amount. This isn’t just a coincidence – it’s the result of a system that penalises career breaks for family responsibilities, leading to lower lifetime earnings and, in turn, lower pension contributions.
When women are ready to return to work after having a child, they often face an impossible dilemma: pay for childcare – or take on the burden themselves, often at the cost of their career progression.
When I had my first child last year, I was confronted with an impossible choice: return to work sooner than I wanted, or drain my savings. I was fortunate to have a supportive employer with good maternity pay and a partner who took shared parental leave, but even then, the financial strain was undeniable. For many women, the situation is even more precarious, leaving them less financially secure than before motherhood. This is a price men are rarely expected to pay.
Women also invest far less than men. The gender investment gap stands at a staggering £567 billion, nearly the size of Poland’s GDP. Just 9 percent of women aged 18-24 invest, compared to 22 percent of men in the same age group.
While risk aversion plays a role, the financial advice industry has also long catered to men, leaving women underserved and disengaged. In fact, 70 percent of women in heterosexual couples who inherit money after their husband’s passing end up switching financial advisers—perhaps a telling sign of whose interests were prioritised.
There is a lot working against women when it comes to building wealth. The question is, what are we going to do about it?
The role of HR in bridging the gap
We’ve rightly already asked how to ensure women have the career opportunities and support needed to close the gender pay gap. But now, HR teams need to go further: are we helping women build lasting wealth? Is our approach to reward and compensation truly driving wealth equality?
Take workplace pensions. If a woman isn’t maximising her employer’s pension matching scheme, she’s missing out on years of compound interest that could make or break her retirement security. And if women aren’t investing, they’re losing out on financial growth that could give them the resilience to navigate career breaks, caregiving responsibilities, and economic uncertainty.
In fact, financial planning is arguably even more critical for women than for men. We tend to live longer, meaning we need bigger retirement savings. We’re also more likely to take time out of the workforce to care for family, making wealth-building even more challenging.
Yet despite these realities, workplace financial inclusion for women remains a blind spot in HR strategy.
A win-win for HR
HR teams have a powerful opportunity to equip women with the financial tools they need to build lasting wealth—while also driving employee engagement.
For example, a very simple first step would be to ensure that all employees are fully engaged with your company pension plan, and any other benefits or schemes that will affect their long term financial stability. We know that there is still a lot of work to do in this area, for example, 60 percent of people are unsure about whether their pension money is invested.
Another step could be to offer holistic financial planning support as a workplace benefit. At Octopus Money, which provides money coaching as a benefit to over 200,000 employees, we have seen how it can transform women’s confidence and decision-making. And 68 percent of employees have told us that after receiving our money support through their employer, they could see themselves staying at their current company longer.
Money coaching has supported customers like Patricia, a 42-year-old marketing professional from Barcelona, now living in Edinburgh. Despite growing up in a financially literate household—her parents were accountants—investing always felt intimidating.
But with employer-provided money coaching through Octopus Money, she gained the confidence to start. She began with £5,000, grew her investments to £22,000 (earning £4,000 in returns), and even funded her wedding within budget. Now, she’s on track to pay off her mortgage in just four years.
“I feel 100 percent more empowered,” she told us. “Investing was a big learning, and now I make smarter financial decisions.”
The wealth audit: a call to action
HR teams have made great progress in tackling gender pay disparities through pay gap audits. But now, it’s time for the next step: a gender wealth gap audit. This means going beyond salaries and understanding the full financial picture of your workforce—taking a holistic approach to financial well-being and wealth-building.
The gender pay gap is only part of the story. If we truly want financial equality, it’s time to start talking about wealth, too.
