Financial Health Tips for Young Women Entering the Workforce

Financial Health Tips for Young Women Entering the Workforce

Financial Health Tips for Young Women Entering the Workforce – Though they’re just as capable professionals, women of the modern workforce arguably face a different set of challenges to men in many cases. 

One of these difficulties is that women must often work twice as hard for the same access to opportunities, an unjust situation that, hopefully, will be rectified soon. Still, unfortunately, inequalities remain at the financial level also. Whether it’s income protection or equal pay, there’s cause for concern. 

Keep reading for tips on overcoming financial struggles as a woman entering the workforce.  

Prepare for Anything

When you enter the workforce, what feels like the end of a long journey is merely the beginning of a new one. Therefore, it’s a good idea to have an eye on the future and a rough idea of what yours could entail.

Remember, most people only have statutory sick pay at a roughly estimated (and measly) £90 per week. It’s vital to get ahead of the curve here and to have some financial safety nets in place. Ultimately, try not to view your job as the answer to all your money concerns.     

Knowing this many UK women who are in the workforce look at ways to protect their income. Other than saving up a rainy-day fund one of the best ways to prepare for such an eventuality is taking out Income Protection Insurance. 

It will give you peace of mind knowing that a proportion of your monthly wage will be covered should you be unable to work due to accident, sickness, or unemployment. Income protection can be particularly important if you are self-employed. 

There are a number of useful sites to help you better understand your options including Money Advice Service and Drewberry, an advisory firm who specialise in income protection and have put together a really great guide to help answer any questions you may have. 

Be Aware of Pension Disparities

Most young women are aware of broad gender disparities in pay, but few might know that this is only the start of many work-related financial problems that they may encounter. 

Recently civil service data revealed that pension gaps existed due to differences in pay and working patterns between men and women. While feelings of resentment are understandable, in this situation, you must use your initiative rather than yearning for a pay increase out of the blue from an already unjust system.

If you work part-time and have the means of working full-time, a switch could be viable. You could also fully control your pension contributions and give them a boost at the earliest opportunity. Take advantage of tax relief cuts by shopping around for a more lucrative private pension too. While none of this is ideal or even fair, only taking matters into your own hands can better things for now. 

Know What You’re Worth

You can only preserve your financial health by knowing your true value as a worker. 

As a young woman entering the workforce, you may feel like you’re not worth much. However, this isn’t true. You bring a fresh, youthful perspective to your role, and you may have an excellent education and an assortment of work experiences and internships under your belt too. Your work ethic alone is worthy of praise as well. 

Nurture your confidence and negotiate salaries with determination. Be bold like the women of history were before you. Ultimately, good financial health comes from a strong sense of self-belief, so channel that into your career moving forward. To get what you’re owed, fight for what’s yours. 

Poppy Watt

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