There is great economic inequality between men and women. While women earn 12 per cent. less than men, women’s pension assets are on average 25 per cent. lower than men’s according to Statistics Denmark.
So it is good that a North Jutland bank takes responsibility and tries to contribute to women increasing their pension. Nevertheless, it has been necessary to wrap up the evening in “exciting posts and good advice about trends in fashion and make-up”, which the bank “tops” […] with a light meal, goody bag for everyone and a competition with delicious prizes’.
The tickets were reportedly ripped off. A great success.
A good handful of years ago, Handelsbanken tried something similar, and here the bank ended up in a shitstorm after inviting to the women’s evening with the theme of financial focus on “security for the modern family”, which was spiced up with “a light girls’ buffet” and posts from a shoe company that should provide “inspiration for everyday life, parties and leisure”.
At the time, among others, then KVINFO director Suzanne Moll was harassed and asked rhetorical questions: »So, is Handelsbanken still living in the 50s?«
But times have obviously changed, and luring women with make-up to get them to hear about pensions can’t even get the Danish Women’s Association to complain, and it’s otherwise an association that can usually keep its mouth shut.
The end justifies the means, one must understand.
Normally I’m not the type to breathe fire or cast the first stone, but the invitation has stuck with me since I first saw it. I think it’s a complete miscommunication – it’s talking down to women to think that it takes fashion shows to get women to talk about their own finances.
Especially if you consider that women are increasingly involved in their personal finances. For example, more and more women have begun to invest privately – and even better than men, figures from the trading platform Nordnet show. At the same time, women get higher educations, bigger and bigger paychecks and are responsible for 80 percent of the family’s purchasing decisions.
So the ladies’ night smacks far away of a cynical marketing stunt. And therefore sanctifies the goal not the remedy in this case. Because if the goal is to create financially aware women and close the gap between women’s and men’s retirement assets, then I don’t think a makeup night will change the culture one iota. On the contrary, it helps to preserve the stereotypical notion of women who can only get their pulse up from a blush from the Nile’s soil.
But if the bank can get a few women to adjust or place the pension with Nordjyske Bank, then the expenses for such an evening are quickly recouped. Because pension is not only important for both women and men, it is also equal to big money for banks.
Instead of spending energy on unimportant girls’ nights out, I hope that Nordjyske Bank will take women seriously and talk to them as adults, independent and intelligent individuals and find other more relevant ways to get women to look at their pension.
2024-09-22 17:35:02
#problem #evening #makeup #fashion #solve
