Why women are better savers than men despite earning less

A British research suggests that women are thriftier than men and manage to build up larger savings pots despite earning less.

The fairer sex typically has £7,981($12,210) put aside, or 40% of their gross average earnings.

The figure for men, meanwhile, is £7,657 ($11,715), or 23% of their typical salary.

The only British areas where men were found to have saved more than women were Scotland and the North of England.

Researchers at the Halifax suggested women’s savings were likely to have been boosted by wealthier partners transferring cash for tax purposes, as well as the numbers of older women inheriting money after their husbands had died.

Halifax economist Martin Ellis said: “While women typically have slightly higher savings balances than men, the difference as a proportion of earnings is quite substantial.

“Female savers seem to be managing to devote more of their earnings to savings.”

The research found that, overall, customers in the South had a typical balance of £8,734 ($13,365) – 29% of gross annual earnings for those regions.

Those in the rest of the UK had a slightly lower £7,759 ($11,870), but put a higher proportion of income away – typically 33%.

The Halifax used its savings database to compile the report, alongside official statistics on earnings.

The report found that overall, customers in the south of England, including Greater London, the south east, the south west and East Anglia, had a typical balance of £8,734 ($13,365), equating to 29% of gross annual earnings for those regions.

People in the rest of the UK had a slightly lower balance of £7,759 ($11,870) but put a higher proportion of their average income away, the equivalent of 33% of typical local earnings for those areas.

Savers in Hambleton, North Yorkshire, bucked the north/south trend, by building typical savings balances amounting to £11,316 ($17,315), the equivalent of 58% of average earnings in the area.

Savers in five other local authority districts in the UK also had average balances equivalent to at least half of local earnings – Eden in Cumbria, Christchurch in Dorset, North Norfolk, Waveney in Suffolk and West Devon.

The Halifax report said these were all popular retirement areas, boosting average savings levels among inhabitants.

In contrast, savers in Islington, a diverse community popular with young professionals, had an average of £7,133 ($10,915) put by, a figure only slightly below the national average but the equivalent of 12% of average local earnings and the lowest proportion in the study.

Nine out of 10 districts with the smallest savings to earnings ratio were in London, the study found.