Promoting women's financial independence: the need for political incentives

On average, women are still economically worse off than men. They are more likely to suffer from poverty in old age. One of many important measures to prevent this is to start investing in equity-based pension plans at an early stage. It is time for policymakers to strengthen the role of equity investments in retirement planning and wealth accumulation and to create the appropriate framework and state incentives. Deutsches Aktieninstitut is drawing attention to this on the occasion of International Women's Day on 8 March 2025.

‘On average, women earn less than men and they make more professional and financial sacrifices for the benefit of children and caring for relatives. This often leads to limited financial independence for women. This is particularly noticeable in the pension gap, which is why the topic of retirement provision is particularly important for women,’ says Henriette Peucker, Chief Executive of Deutsches Aktieninstitut.

Regular saving through long-term and broadly diversified investment in shares, equity funds or ETFs is a suitable instrument for retirement provision, with an average return of six to nine percent per year.
‘Unfortunately, however, too few women still take advantage of this opportunity, as the shareholder figures of Deutsches Aktieninstitut show. In 2024, there were 4.4 million female shareholders, compared with 7.7 million male shareholders with share investments. The number of female shareholders has fallen by around 300,000 compared to the previous year,’ says Peucker. ’This underlines the need for action. Anyone who is serious about gender equality is called upon to create the appropriate framework conditions. This includes promoting share-based pension provision and introducing a tax-privileged investment savings account for asset accumulation.’