A new report on investments in Italian families revealed a very unbalanced situation regarding the gender gap in the control of economic resources of our country. Within the Italian nuclei, In fact, men would make decisions regarding family finances in 78% of cases. An imbalance that relegates women to 22% of decisions, a figure that is however partially misleading due to the ever-increasing number of single-person households.
The data clearly shows one of the most pressing problems of the Italian economy: the difference in wealthof power and remuneration between men and women, the so-called gender gap. In international rankings, our country is placed in very low positions for this metric and the policies of recent years have only partially addressed the situation.
Who invests in Italy: the identikit
Consob, the body that monitors Italian financial markets, has published a new Report on Italians’ investment trendsanalyzing the data of the families. The average Italian investor has a salary of no more than 3 thousand euros, manages less than 50 thousand euros, is between 45 and 54 years old, is married and is a man. This identikit highlights some of the emerging trends within the demographics and financial activity of Italian families, but hides others.
For example, the segment of the population close to retirement, between 55 and 64 years old, has the same relevance as that among the most economically active, those between 35 and 44. Even if a good part of the people manage less than 50 thousand euros, almost a third of the investors have a financial availability that starts from that figure up to 250 thousand euros. Just as a third of the people studied earn between 3 and 5 thousand euros.
The majority of people who invest in Italy, 42% manage their finances themselves, personally choosing how to make their savings grow. An almost equivalent percentage, however, 40%, also asks for professional help from experts paid for this, but not delegated. Also important is the percentage of people who, alongside these two options, add an informal request for help, 32%. Marginal instead is the percentage of those who ask for informal help from experts, 9%, directly delegate their investment to a professional, 6% or rely completely on social networks, 3%.
Italians also prefer medium-term investments. 38% commit their money between 3 and 5 years, while 24% aim for even shorter periods, between 1 and 3 years. This confirms the Italian population’s attachment to liquidity, which they prefer to have available rather than making it profitable with longer-term investments. Even the medium-long term, between 5 and 10 years of commitment, is considered by only 22% of families, while a marginal 7% choose to focus on products or projects that go beyond the 10-year perspective.
The often advanced age of Italian investors often makes them experts. 45% of them say they have over 10 years of experience, 16% between 6 and 10 years and 19% between 3 and 5. Marginal percentages represent those who have less than 3, 2 or 1 year of experience. In addition to age, however, there is another characteristic that distinguishes the Italian investor: it is almost always, more precisely in 78% of cases, a man.
Who decides investments in Italy
This data is at the centre of an in-depth reflection within the Consob report on family investments. In fact, it emerged from the sample that 78% of people who make decisions about how to use family finances are menoften over the age of 50. Women are in fact relegated to a relatively marginal role, barely covering this role in 22% of cases. However, these data, as explained by the report itself, hide a reality that is perhaps even more polarized than what emerges from these percentages.
The sample of women analyzed was in fact separated into the actual family situation of the women detected by the report. In demography, a family is a nucleus composed of any number of people who live independently. So it can also be composed of a single person. Of the 22% of women who make financial decisions, only 57% are married. The others are either single, in 21% of cases, or widows, same percentage. Consequently, women who actually make decisions for their partner are approximately 12% of the total population.
The reason behind this problem is explained by the report itself. In Italy, within family units, the main characteristic for having the power to make financial decisions regarding the savings of the unit itself is to be the person who contributes most to the income. This cultural trait is accompanied by a structural problem in our country’s economy, which relegates women to lower-paid job roles and generally penalizes their careers and salaries. A phenomenon commonly called the gender gap.
The problem of the gender gap in family investments
As also reported in the Consob report on family investments, the gender gap in investments in Italy is the result of the broader problem of gender gap that afflicts our country. The social norm that requires the person who contributes most to the family’s income to make financial decisions relegates women to a secondary role, giving rise to very significant distortions of power in the use of money.
The composition of the sample in fact reflects various surveys, cited by the report itself, which have immortalised the situation of the Italian gender gap in 2024. SAccording to the Global Gender Gap Report 2024, Italy is in 87th place out of 146 countries regarding gender equality in four different areas: economic, education, health and political leadership. In particular, regarding equal pay, Italy is still very far from an equity plan, ranking only 95th.
Depending on the classification, Italian women earn, for the same role as men, between 3 thousand and 16 thousand euros in less gross each year. A salary gap that is then reflected in the family, making their contribution to finances secondary and taking away their decision-making power.
