53 percent of women want to learn financial literacy – research by the Ukrainian Women’s Congress

Women’s financial literacy levels are lower than men’s, yet more than half of women want to learn financial literacy.

Such data was obtained as a result of a joint project between Oschadbank and the Ukrainian Women’s Congress, which is aimed at increasing financial literacy among women from small communities.

Speaking about the idea of the project, Oschadbank Supervisory Board member Roza Tapanova emphasized that since the beginning of the war, Oschadbank has become not just a bank, but a full-fledged partner for clients: in financing and grants, in expanding opportunities, in expert support and training.

“To restore the country’s economy, it is extremely necessary to more actively involve women, including through their changing specialties and increasing career ambitions. Our cooperation with the Ukrainian Housing and Urban Development Commission and the results of the joint study prove that we are moving in the right direction: the educational component is extremely important for this,” noted Roza Tapanova.

Co-founder and director of the Ukrainian Women’s Congress, Svitlana Voytsekhovska, provided statistical data indicating a significant increase in the number of women who, due to the war, became breadwinners and managers of the family budget.

“These women have taken on new functions and need new knowledge. Women who have successfully started their business but do not know how to scale need knowledge as well. That is why, together with the state-owned Oschadbank, we carried out this project: we sociologically researched which aspects of financial literacy are lagging behind, what to pay attention to, where to make banking services more accessible. We want women to become more skilled and efficient,” said Svitlana Voytsekhovska.

According to the study, women’s financial literacy is significantly lower than men’s, despite their higher education levels. Only a quarter of women were able to calculate the annual interest rate on a loan based on a monthly rate. Among men, 37% managed the task.

“This may be explained by the fact that women are poorer and, accordingly, have fewer skills in using surplus funds. At the same time, lower financial literacy contributes to poverty, creating a “vicious circle,” said Dmytro Savchuk, director of Info Sapiens LLC, the company that conducted the survey.

The study showed that most women are interested in learning financial literacy. Oschadbank considers supporting women’s business an important priority of its work. The bank actively helps women entrepreneurs not only survive, but also develop during a full-scale war, said Oschadbank Chairman of the Board Serhiy Naumov.

“In our opinion, the potential of women’s business has not yet been fully revealed. We want more Ukrainian women to start their own business, gain new knowledge, and therefore new opportunities. Cooperation with the Ukrainian Housing and Urban Development Council is another step in this direction. The sociological data obtained indicate a significant demand for financial literacy training for women, and these results will be used by us to plan information campaigns in this area,” said Serhiy Naumov.