Financial freedom is the primary motivation for women to work in Delhi NCR followed by the desire to feel valuable and self-confident, reveals a nationwide survey by IndiaLends on financial habits of working women.
The survey covered 10,000 working women in the age group of 21-65 years in metros, Tier -1, and Tier-2 cities (4,439 unique pin codes) across the country, and 10 per cent of the participants were from the Delhi-NCR region.
Two third or 67 per cent of working women in Delhi contribute to household expenses and 31 per cent of them contribute half of their income towards family budget, says the fifth edition of the ‘WorkingStree’ survey published on April 25.
IndiaLends, an online marketplace for credit cards and personal loans, further adds that financial freedom is the biggest motivation for women to work followed by the need to support family. On the national level, more than 70 per cent of working women contribute to household expenses actively, the survey reveals.
IndiaLends founder and CEO Gaurav Chopra said: “Financial empowerment of women is not just a social responsibility, but a key driver of economic growth. Our study indicates that women in Delhi have a long way to go in achieving financial independence. While it is encouraging to see that nearly two-thirds of women in Delhi have checked their credit scores, there is still a long way to go in terms of regular expense tracking and independent investment decision-making.”
Despite efforts to include women in financial decision-making process, savings and investment decisions are still a difficult task for them in Delhi, as around 32 per cent of the participants find these decisions complex, the report says.
Key Highlights
Interestingly, on the national level, the survey found that working women are keen on learning about personal finance. Nearly 50 per cent of them said they learned it from social media, 30 per cent from news articles, and 20 per cent take help from workshops, seminars, and professional experts.
Yet, the data show that only one-third of working women surveyed felt confident about making financial decisions.
Of the total participants, 47.7 per cent were in the age group of 25-34 years, 30.8 per cent in 35-44 years, and 13.7 per cent in the 21-24 years age group. The remaining 7.8 per cent of the working women were over 45 years of age.
The survey covered salaried, self-employed, homemakers, and professionals. The largest group was salaried employees with 43.6 per cent, and professionals, such as CAs and lawyers, comprised 4.4 per cent of the total.
