Last summer I went to China for half of the summer. I had traveled abroad a couple of years before with only a debit card and that was not an experience I wanted to relive because ATM fees and foreign transaction fees are a nightmare and also I had only one way to access money. I decided that it was a good time to get a credit card. I only had one year of college left so it seemed important that I build up credit before potentially leaving the nest. Anyway, I started to become really interested in credit cards and the strategy of getting credit cards and using them for their reward benefits. There is a lot of conflicting information about how to manage credit cards and have a good credit score. Of course, the best place to get a lot of information on credit cards is the internet. YouTube and Google are great ways to find people who are really knowledgeable and will keep you updated on different credit card strategies and offers. What I have noticed is that most of the prominent Youtubers are men. The most trustworthy popular credit card enthusiasts are men. I wonder why that is. Turns out it’s just one aspect of a larger problem: the lack of financial literacy education for women.

The list of popular credit card strategist YouTubers include Sebastian of AskSebby, Credit Shifu, Brian Jung, Graham Stephen, Adam Joseph from Proud Money, and David of WiseFlys. This is just the beginning of the all male group of credit card enthusiast Youtubers. These guys are the middle men between credit card issuers and the general public as they make comprehensive videos about credit cards for different types of consumers. From what I have learned and observed from them, the people who are able to get the largest advantage out of reward credit cards are people who spend a lot of money regularly. In order to get rewards faster, you have to spend as much money as possible on an array of credit cards in order to earn rewards in cash, hotels, and travel. As great as their information is, why are men dominating the credit card enthusiast space? I bet credit cards are just the tip of the iceberg.

In the article, “4 credit lessons women can learn from men” on creditcards.com, the author Dawn Papandrea, gives women four tips they can learn from men. Many of these tips rely on stereotypes about men and masculine behavior. The first tip is that men think bigger picture and develop long term strategies versus women who may be responsible for month to month budgeting. The assumption of this tip is that men are in the decision making role and make the choices about how their families and women can spend the money. Because men are seen as the main money maker, they then are in control of how the money is spent and the financial plans for the future. Women are deferential to the man’s money plan. The second tip is men are less impulsive which insinuates women are more impulsive buyers. This belief that women are impulsive is expanded upon more. The third tip is that men are more assertive and confident because they’ve been taught by their fathers ways to manage money while women are not taught how to manage money over their lifetime. There is also the possibility that men perceive their ability to manage money and credit cards to be higher than it actually is. Just like in studies where men have more confidence in STEM subjects than women. The fourth tip is that men are less emotional about their financial situation than women. One this tip perpetuates the narrative that women are emotional and impulsive and are not able to think rationally about their situations. Perhaps the reason women are “emotional” about their financial situation is that they are not taught about financial literacy are instead taught to rely on their husbands or fathers for financial advice. This article is just an example of how gender bleeds into spaces that have impact on everyone, yet there is more financial knowledge given to men than women making some men better equipped to manage their finances over their lifetime. 

Financial literacy is a skill everyone should know. Unfortunately, the faces of credit card strategy and financial advice are men. It is even more important that women be capable of managing their finances because, “…Women tend to live longer than men, have shorter work tenures, lower earnings and levels of pension or survivors’ benefits,” (Fonseca et.al, 2012). Women who receive lower salaries than men, are expected to take time from work to rear children, and are not given the tools to manage their financial futures independently of men, are disadvantaged not only for the future but also the ability to reap potential benefits from credit cards or investing. Not only is personal finance opportunities impacted by gender but also finance occupations. In the investment business the percentage of women in management roles are less than 5% and the assets they deal with are also less than 5% (Firestone, 2019). Investment is notoriously a male dominated space. In order to diversify finance as a career and aspect of life, women and men need to be taught about finances equally. 

First of all, financial literacy in America is abysmal. Minorities, poor people, and women are continuously uniformed about how to make sustainable financial decisions for their lives. There are a lot of social reasons why finances are so gendered. When men are seen as the default choice for all things money, the stereotypes surrounding men’s money habits and women’s money habits are formed. The importance of money as socially appealing. Men with lots of money are seen as hardworking where women are seen as heiresses with no real prospects. The question to be asked is, how are men able to make millions of dollars versus women? Well, men are more likely to be taken seriously as business people, positions of power are also often men, therefore they choose who is able to become the next success story. It’s impossible to get into the enormous number of interconnectedness of masculinity, power, money, and capitalism. So I’ll return to my initial topic, credit cards. Credit and credit cards are some of the first financial stepping stones one can take.  Credit card information sites and Youtubers provide the opportunity for more equitable access for financial literacy. As more women learn about finances, they can spread their knowledge to other women, therefore more women are able to be self-sufficient despite the gender inequality they face throughout their lives.

Written by Zoe Clark

Sources:

Firestone, K. (2019, March 25). When Will We See More Gender Equality in Investing? Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2019/03/when-will-we-see-more-gender-equality-in-investing

Fonseca, R., Mullen, K. J., Zamarro, G., & Zissimopoulos, J. (2012). What Explains the Gender Gap in Financial Literacy? The Role of Household Decision Making. The Journal of consumer affairs, 46(1), 90–106. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2011.01221.x

Papandrea, D. (2016, April 26). 4 credit lessons men can learn from women. In creditcards.com. Retrieved from https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/what-men-can-learn-from-women-about-credit.php