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06 Apr 17 | News

New Study on Gender Wealth Gap in Luxembourg: Inequalities in Net Wealth and Investment Behaviour Revealed

The study is the first of its kind in Luxembourg.

A report published on 6 April 2017 by LISER (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research) has revealed that a gender wealth gap exists in Luxembourg, with the greatest disparity between never married women and men.

The study, the first of its kind in Luxembourg, also exposed distinct differences in investment behaviour between men and women, married and single.

According to the findings, which are based on data from Luxembourg’s participation in the European Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS), married households reporting that the man has the most financial knowledge have, on average, greater levels of net wealth.

With regards to investment behaviour, the report finds that men invest a greater proportion of their income in riskier financial assets, while women showed a marked preference for non-financial assets, such as housing.

This suggests that women prefer to save and men prefer to invest,” says Eva Sierminska PhD and LISER Senior Researcher, one of the report’s authors.

Levels of debt vary according to marital status, with single men more likely to have some form of loan than single women.  However, the opposite is true in joint households. In this situation, where the woman is stated as the most financially knowledgeable, the household is likely to have greater levels of debt.

The report takes a first look at the differences in wealth between women and men in Luxembourg,” explains Sierminska. “Gender wealth differences do exist in Luxembourg and the fact that women prefer to save, while men prefer to invest, warrants further attention because women are missing out on the possibility of wealth creation.

The full study, entitled, “A first glimpse into the gender wealth gap in Luxembourg. A report on the wealth situation of women and men,” can be viewed here.

The report was done jointly with Fabienne Weber (PhD student at the University of Luxembourg).

For further information contact:
Eva Sierminska
Eva.Sierminska@liser.lu