Change the narrative*

*about inequality in women’s wealth and opportunity

The Gender Wealth Gap: How did we get here?

Wealth inequality for women in Philadelphia has grown through systems of wealth extraction such as structural racism, racialized patriarchy, and racialized capitalism. These systems have resulted in the top 1% of the population holding 47% of the nation’s wealth and their wealth continues to grow exponentially by extracting from the rest of us.

This extractive economy which is deeply harming millions of human beings across the globe, is upheld and normalized by narratives that stigmatize and blame individuals for their current financial position. Scroll down to learn more about these myths and what you can do to challenge them.

Structural Racism

Structural racism is a legacy of legalized white supremacy. Laws and systems put in place with the intention of keeping power in the hands of white people have led to generations of disenfranchised people of color in this country.

Racialized Patriarchy

Patriarchy places power in the hands of men and disempowers women. Racialized patriarchy separates people into a hierarchy using both gender and race, having the most consequential impact on women of color.

Racialized Capitalism

This idea states racialized exploitation and capital accumulation are mutually compounding, placing women of color in the most difficult position in our capitalist economy.

Understanding their wealth journeys

In order to better understand the particular ways inequitable systems lead to wealth accumulation for few and wealth extraction for many, the Gender Wealth Institute launched a survey to understand the wealth experience of women in our communities. From our survey group, we interviewed six women (Faith, Ivy, Taina, Tamara, Tracey and Ingrid) to explore the context and nuance of their wealth journeys and lift up shared themes for further exploration.

Click to explore findings from the survey and interviews

Jump to Section

Education

Myth 01

Getting a College Degree is an Equalizer for Women

Not adding up

Even as higher education is opening the door to higher paying jobs, these jobs are not providing a wage that meets or exceeds the cost of inflation, reducing the ability of many women to afford basic needs. The primary cause is the machine of capital extraction that is at war against workers, always working to drive down labor income and those most impacted are women of color.

For every dollar that a white man has...1

For years the goal has been equal pay regardless of gender or race, but we’ll need to look at a bigger picture of wealth building and the barriers that women and minorities face. When we talk about wealth, we’re looking at peoples’ total resources minus debts and their ability to meet the challenges that life brings.

Outstanding debt

Student loan debt is an extractive policy. Those carrying debt are more likely to delay starting a family, buying a home, or saving for retirement – all choices that reduce their ability to accumulate wealth. In reality, student loan debt forces women to cut back on consumption, savings, or most likely, both.

Women with advanced degrees tend to have greater outstanding debt and take longer to pay it off 2
2/3 of US student loans are held by women with the gender disparity growing every year
Men pay their debt down at a rate of 11% compared to 8% for women3

Earnings disparities

In Philadelphia:

Women with higher education degrees earn more than women with lower education degrees, but less than men with higher education degrees4
Women earn on average ~15% lower than the median earning for each education level (high school, 4-year degree, and graduate degrees)4

Unequal ability to build wealth leads to women being more restricted by debt and ultimately less likely to retire at the age they want to.

Economic

Myth 02

People with high wealth manage their money better than people with low wealth

Wealth can be viewed in different ways

Wealth is primarily thought of in financial terms only – how much money someone has.

We choose to view wealth differently. Reframing how we think about wealth can acknowledge what is gained when we dismantle racial and gender inequity.

When wealth is accumulated:

We live and retire with greater dignity, freedom, and peace of mind.
Our communities are prosperous, resilient, and vibrant.
Future generations have the freedom to dream big and become all they truly can be.
We are healthy and know that our family, networks, and communities are healthy, spiritually whole, and contributing.

The current systems within our society have led to systematic oppression and hindered our ability to think expansively about wealth. Federal policies such as mortgage interest and property tax deductions help the top earners stay at the top and predatory policies such as late fees keep the bottom earners from accumulating wealth.

On top of policies, these disparities are intensified because jobs viewed as ‘women’s work’ are often lower-paying or unpaid, such as caregiving. This has led to widening gaps in the top and bottom’s earners average savings at a staggering rate.

Unequal ability to build wealth leads to women being more restricted by debt and ultimately less likely to retire at the age they want to.

Wealth accumulation over time5

People with lower income and wealth are not bad at managing their money compared to their wealthy counterparts. They are facing societal and structural barriers keeping them from building wealth. Reframing how we think about wealth, and who deserves to prosper, is the first step in dismantling the oppressive system we live in today.

Workforce

Myth 03

If women are in higher paying jobs, and can stay connected to those jobs full-time, this can help close the wage gap

Today, women are more educated than ever, with greater labor force participation. Yet, there has been little to no change in the wage gap in over two decades.6,7

So why does the wage gap continue if women are in higher paying jobs? The answer lies in the difference between poverty and self-sufficiency.

Self-Sufficiency Standard

According to a study done by the University of Washington-Seattle, the majority of households in the US do not make enough money to cover basic needs (food, shelter, healthcare, childcare)— a concept known as the Self-Sufficiency Standard.8

Self sufficiency is a better standard to use to determine economic health, as it takes into account family composition, ages of children, and geographical distribution of costs.
The Self-Sufficiency standard in Philadelphia is $66K for a single mother of two children.4

Yet, even with higher paying jobs and greater degree attainment amongst women, there is still a gap—in fact, women with 4 year degrees still have an $18K Self-Sufficiency gap.4

Income vs. Student Loan Debt9

The race for women to catch up in not only pay, but also wealth must be addressed. Solutions that tackle childcare and other caregiving costs, equal pay, higher education debt, and the overall investment gap, are essential.

Health

Myth 04

Health and wealth are unrelated domains and have no effect on each other

Health and wealth haven’t traditionally been thought of as connected, though research finds a strong link between the two. As with the other myths, this is even more true for women of color.

Access to Quality Healthcare

Access to healthcare is not always by need, but rather by wealth. Similar to the idea of food deserts, there are also healthcare deserts, where residents don’t have access to regular healthcare.

According to a 2016 report, census tracts where more than 80% of Philadelphia residents were Black have 28x higher odds of falling into the lowest-primary-care-access regions of the city
Less than half of women in Philadelphia indicate that they have access to the healthcare services they need9

In Philadelphia, only 39% of Black women surveyed indicate that their healthcare is affordable.9

The income and wealth of workers must be protected including through medical debt relief and short- and long-term disability protection.

Maternal Health

When women do not have access to quality healthcare, there is a financial impact for the economy.

For example, the total maternal morbidity costs for all US births in 2019 is estimated to be ~32 billion dollars 11
The cost of going to the doctor is not always about money. For women, and especially black women, the cost can be far greater; Black women are also 3x more likely than white women to suffer from a pregnancy related death13
Finally, in Philadelphia, nearly 3 of 5 (59%) of surveyed Black women - the highest rate among the major racial groups represented in the study - indicate that they experience stress that impacts their physical health

Community

Myth 05

Wealth is an individual experience that has no link to the resources of the neighborhood

The ability to build wealth is strongly influenced by many factors outside of a person’s individual drive and ambition. For example, a strong link exists between the financial health of a person’s neighborhood and economy and individual outcomes. Disadvantaged neighborhoods have well-documented negative effects on educational, economic, and behavioral outcomes. It isn’t surprising that a similar link exists between neighborhood disadvantage and wealth-building later in life. This is especially true for communities of color, who still suffer the consequences of a long history of racial segregation in the U.S.

For women in Philadelphia, neighborhood safety can vary widely, and is strongly linked with income level:

While 83% of highest earners in the survey said that they feel safe in their neighborhoods, only 25% of lowest earners feel that way9

I know for people in my community, if they haven’t been involved in violence, that a loved one or someone else close to them has been a victim of violence, so that definitely creates stress. Watching the news – that creates stress. Those stressors are impeding our mental and physical health, you know, our well-being as a whole.”

- Tamara Cobb

Tamara Cobb exchanges some fruit for a plant

Health and mental well-being suffer when community members feel unsafe, leading to isolation, and a focus on immediate needs only. When communities are fighting to survive, their ability to thrive socially and financially is reduced.

If I can’t walk out my door, my peace isn’t that it’s just peaceful in here. My peace is that it’s peaceful around here. If I got to worry about going to the store and not getting back in my door, then yeah, that would disrupt my peace.”

- Tracey Wallington

In Philadelphia, where city policies have encouraged a development boom in lower-income neighborhoods, the lowest earners among women experience the highest rate of housing cost increases. Cost and tax increases in low-income neighborhoods further inhibit the ability of women in these communities to build wealth, along with all the other challenges they face.

For those in the lowest income group, nearly all (99%) say that their housing expenses have increased over the past year9

What can you do?

History tells us that policy is at the core of gender wealth inequity in the US and Philadelphia. Intentional policy change can affect wealth distribution by lessening many of the burdens women face disproportionately in their personal and professional lives. While policy change takes time, many local and national organizations have been actively working to reduce or spread awareness of the issues raised in this report. Supporting their work through donations is one way to advance the journey to gender wealth equity in addition to advocating for policy change.

Finally, the most necessary step to achieving gender wealth equality is to continue to challenge the myths and false narratives that block progress toward a more equitable wealth landscape for women in Philadelphia. Change begins within you.

Influence Policy

Rethink the use of traditional poverty measures and use the Center for Women’s Welfare Self Sufficient Standard
Advocate for tuition-free colleges, expanding Pell grants, student-debt relief programs and streamlining existing forgiveness programs
Legislate guaranteed basic income and/or cash assistance programs to women
Raise the federal and state minimum wages, which research shows will significantly reduce gender and racial wage gaps
Legislate universal childcare
Protect the income, assets and wealth of workers through improved short term and long term disability policies
Join legislative efforts to advocate for a single payer health care system, which is shown to provide higher quality healthcare for Black women
Introduce legislation to institute a more robust PILOT program in Philadelphia, which is an underutilized tool for investments into goods such as public education and city services

Donate

Invest in programs that address student loan debt
Invest in education programs that provide adult learners an alternative and more affordable way to get an advanced degree such as College Unbound.
Invest in funds that prioritize funding small local businesses owned by women of color
Fund guaranteed basic income pilot programs and financial coaching programs
Invest in programs that support the expansion of caregiver education and training to support caregiving wellness
Intentionally direct program related investments to programs and initiatives focused on reducing maternal mortality rates
Invest in programs that work to challenge and dismantle racial and gender biases among healthcare providers
Support organizations that are promoting equitable development through community ownership such as WCRP

Organize Together

Join efforts to promote universal student debt collection, like the Debt Collective or Student Debt Crisis Center
Vote for candidates at the city, state and federal levels that are in favor of forgiving student loan debt, expanding tuition-free colleges and Pell grants
Create mutual aid structures outside of institutions to promote collective care
Seek out financial coaching, which is proven to increase financial capability by addressing the structural root causes of financial insecurity
Tell Congress to make early learning and childcare funding a top priority and lean on your local legislators to work with urgency as we approach the Child Care Cliff
Join organizations focused on advocating for medical debt relief, an issue that disproportionately affects Black adults
Tell Congress to make universal healthcare a top priority and share stories of the impact of medical debt on your physical and mental health with local legislators
Join groups who are working to protect and advance health care rights such as Pennsylvania Health Law Project
Consider joining community land trust efforts in an advisory or stakeholder role, in order to shift land ownership to residents and improve community wealth
Support worker cooperative efforts in the area through membership, education or purchasing at co-ops in your community

Amy Royce, Amy Matsui, Unsupported: Underinvestment in the Care Economy Drives Gender and Racial Wealth Gaps, American Bar. (January 6, 2023)
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Annual Report, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. (2018)
Ana Hernández Kent, Fenaba R. Addo, Gender and Racial Disparities in Student Loan Debt. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. (November 10, 2022)
Kendrick Davis, Danielle Walker, 2023 Final Report Quantitative Analysis. Women’s Way Gender Wealth Institute. (2023).
Signe-Mary McKernan, Caroline Ratcliffe, C. Eugene Steuerle, Caleb Quakenbush, Emma Kalis, Nine Charts about Wealth Inequality in America, Urban. (October 5, 2017)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor force participation rate for women highest in the District of Columbia in 2022, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (March 7, 2023)
Carolina Aragao, Gender pay gap in U.S. hasn’t changed much in two decades, Pew Research Center. (March 1, 2023).
Center for Women’s Welfare, Self sufficiency Standard, University of Washington-Seattle. (2021)
Kendrick Davis, Ph.D. and Danielle Walker, Gender Wealth Spring 2022 Survey, Women’s Way. (June 10)
Ana Hernández Kent, Gender Wealth Gaps in the U.S. and Benefits of Closing Them, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. (September 29, 2021)
Mahajan, Shiwani et al. Trends in Differences in Health Status and Health Care Access and Affordability by Race and Ethnicity in the United States, Measuring Disease Cost Burden Among Older Adults in the U.S. NCOA.
Matthew Rae, Gary Claxton, Krutika Amin, Emma Wager, Jared Ortaliza, Cynthia Cox, The burden of medical debt in the United States. Peterson0KFF Health System Tracker. (March 10, 2022)
Aasta Mehta, MD, MPP, Roy Hoffman, MD, MPH, Susan Tew, MPH, BSN, RN, My-Phuong Huynh, MPH, CPH, Improving Outcomes: Maternal Mortality in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Department of Public Health. (March 2021)

Change the narrative*

*about inequality in women’s wealth and opportunity

The Gender Wealth Gap: How did we get here?

Understanding their wealth journeys

Jump to Section

Education

Myth 01

Not adding up

For every dollar that a white man has...1

For every dollar that a white man has...1

Outstanding debt

Earnings disparities

Taina

Economic

Myth 02

Wealth can be viewed in different ways

Faith

Wealth accumulation over time5

Wealth accumulation over time5

Workforce​

Myth 03

Self-Sufficiency Standard

Care Economy

Education and Debt

Income vs. Student Loan Debt9

Investment Gap

Ingrid

Health

Myth 04

Access to Quality Healthcare

Lost Wages and Medical Debt

Maternal Health

Stress impacts physical health

Tamara

Community

Myth 05

Ivy

What can you do?

contact

quick links

get involved

Workforce