New Survey Reveals How Women Are Managing Money—And Stress—In 2025's Uncertain Economic Times

8 hours ago

On "Forbes Newsroom," Alyssa Schaefer, Chief Experience Officer at Laurel Road, and Allison Brady, VP at HarrisX, discussed a new Laurel Reed 2025 survey probing how women are managing their money and stress in times of economic uncertainty.

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00:00Hi everyone, I'm Maggie McGrath, editor of Forbes Women. A new study finds that a large

00:09majority of women, about 65% in fact, find personal finances not just stressful, but

00:16also anxiety inducing. Joining us now to discuss this research are two people who were instrumental

00:22in bringing it to the world. That is Allison Brady, a VP at Harris X, and Alyssa Schaefer.

00:28She leads Laurel Road's business and Laurel Road commissioned this research, and she is

00:33also Laurel Road's chief experience officer. Thank you both so much for being here.

00:38Thanks for having us.

00:39So Alyssa, I want to start with you because this is the eighth year in a row that you

00:44guys have spearheaded this research. Why is it so important for you to look at this data

00:51year after year after year when it comes to women and money and anxiety?

00:56It's a good question, Maggie. So as you said, this is our eighth annual survey focusing

01:00on the differences or really the sentiments of women and their personal finances. And

01:05when we first started it, it really was a comparison of men and women. So we had split

01:10the population about 50-50 and surveyed over a thousand women and a thousand men. And we

01:15were looking at the differences and we did that for a number of years. And the motivation

01:19there was to, at the very beginning, was really just to understand what's their difference.

01:23And we, in fact, found there were some pretty striking differences. And then it really evolved.

01:30And this year, we didn't actually do a comparison to men and women. We wanted to really focus

01:34specifically on women as a segment. And we want to understand year-over-year trends as

01:40well as generational trends within women. So it's really evolved over the years and

01:45the purposes for doing it. But the main reason why we've continued to do it is really to

01:49bring awareness on how women feel about managing their personal finances. And also, it's really

01:56spurred a lot of internal conversations around what we can do about it. We've spurred some

02:01partnerships based on this research that have been really instrumental in supporting women.

02:07And we have also developed some internal and external training programs and content to

02:11support women during their financial journey.

02:14Interesting. We can dive more into the generational differences. But I want to start also by asking

02:21you, was there one piece of this year's report that was most surprising to you?

02:28I think one of the things that was most surprising, and you mentioned that in your opening, Maggie,

02:33is that 65% of women find personal finances their top stressor, or a top stressor. This

02:40has remained consistent, even though there are other categories of what their top stressors

02:44could be. They are second and third to personal finances as a top stressor, but they've actually

02:51decreased in the magnitude of how stressful they are for women. Those two things are their

02:56health as well as family responsibilities. So even though some of the categories seem

03:01to go down as their prominence of being a top stressor, managing finances has remained

03:06a top one. And that's been a surprise, because a lot of the categories tend to be consistent

03:11year over year. And as I mentioned, personal finance has been consistent, while the other

03:15ones have decreased.

03:17I want to bring Allison into the conversation with the same question. Allison, as you look

03:21at this data, is the same piece surprising to you, or was there something else that jumped

03:26out at you as being like, wow, I did not expect that?

03:30Yeah. There's a lot of surprising data in this survey, and we're honored to be a part

03:35of it with Laurel Road. What was really interesting for us is some of the promising trends that

03:42we're seeing among younger generations of women, Gen Z and millennial women, and how

03:48they are feeling more proactive about taking control of their finances, having conversations

03:56with personal networks, leveraging social media to get financial guidance. So there's

04:02a lot that's promising there in terms of women feeling empowered to have conversations

04:09and to focus on their financial goals.

04:12Now this data was collected in February, and if I'm thinking about how I felt about my

04:16personal finances in February and what was happening in the news, we had some market

04:20volatility, there was a lot of news about tariffs. I myself was actually very stressed

04:26about it right about the time that you were collecting this data. So I'm wondering, did

04:31folks tell you what was driving their anxiety, or did they just say personal finance is my

04:37top stressor?

04:38Well, one other thing that we found was that a vast majority of women, 78% of them, said

04:46that the current economy actually makes them feel more uneasy about meeting their financial

04:51goals. And we didn't dig into exactly what those financial goals were, but you can imagine

04:56paying off student loans or buying a home or saving for retirement, those types of things.

05:02So that was an increase from year over year, just really the sentiment of the economy and

05:08the uncertainty of it right now, which I think really adds to the anxiety of that personal

05:14finances really being a top stressor for women.

05:18And we've seen some consistent trends over the years that we've run this study of where

05:22women are focused in terms of their finances and where they feel behind. Retirement savings

05:28is number one, followed by credit card debt, and finally salary. But we started to see

05:34some emerging trends among Gen Z are focused on investments and salary, and millennials

05:43have a lot of financial goals and pressures, home ownership being one of them, as Alyssa

05:47just mentioned.

05:49I can imagine home ownership is a big one, speaking from my own experience, just watching

05:53the market go up and knowing the challenges that can exist there. Allison, you alluded

05:59to this, but I want to dig into this a little bit more. There was a really interesting sub-finding,

06:04if you will, that kind of looked at the confidence level among women, but also the anxiety. And

06:10my takeaway here is that women generally feel pretty confident about how they can manage

06:15their money, and yet it is still a huge stressor. What explains that kind of divergence?

06:21Yeah, well, as we mentioned, there's a lot of economic stress that they are facing from

06:26external factors. But the promising insight is that 70% of women feel confident in managing

06:33their finances, and they're being resourceful. There's a lot of different ways that they

06:38are looking to manage their finances, learn more information. As we mentioned before,

06:45we have 44% of women say they turn to friends and family to discuss finances. 30% say social

06:52media. For Gen Z, that climbs almost up to half of Gen Z women saying they turn to social

06:57media. And with the emergence of social media, financial influencers and trends, there's

07:04a lot of different ways that women can budget, that they can save money. Despite the external

07:11economic stress that they're facing, we see that confidence, which is the silver lining.

07:16And they're confident because they are leveraging what they have access to in terms of financial

07:22guidance. We see a lot of trends that emerge on social media that provide different ways

07:28that they can earn or save money. Side hustles is something that we saw very prevalent among

07:35especially the Gen Z and millennial women that we interviewed. So there's a lot of different

07:41ways that they're focused on this, but there's still more opportunity for them to learn more.

07:48There's a lack of trust in social influencers. There's so much guidance out there, they're

07:53not necessarily sure what they can trust. So professional financial guidance, financial

08:00tools, budgeting apps, things of that nature are something that are going to be really

08:04important for women.

08:05Alyssa, I was going to ask you as someone who runs business operations at Laurel Road,

08:10does it concern you that so many people are turning to social media for answers on their

08:15finances?

08:16Yes and no. I mean, I think social media can be a resource and we're seeing in the data

08:21that it absolutely is a resource. But it's interesting because only 10% of those that

08:27are using social media and looking at the financial trends within social media actually

08:31trust it as a true resource to make decisions. So I think it's important to have a little

08:37caution, right, because there's so much content out there. And even though, as Alison said,

08:42women are using social media and finding out more about their personal finances through

08:47social, they're also talking about it more on social, which is a wonderful sign that

08:51they care about it more. The trust factor isn't quite there yet, another point that

08:56Alison mentioned, but really only 10% of women trusting it as a reliable financial resource.

09:02You know, I just think you have to have a little caution there.

09:05The other thing that I think is really interesting that goes along with this trend is that the

09:10majority of women, 65% we found, trust financial advisors and other financial experts, but

09:17only 20% are actually seeking their advice out proactively. I think that is a huge opportunity

09:23to do more there. As Alison mentioned, the research showed that many women are looking

09:28to their own personal networks, including friends and family, but they're not yet tapping

09:34into the acts of professional financial advisors and experts out there. So we believe that's

09:40a big opportunity, especially for women.

09:42Did they say why they're not accessing those professional sources? Is it the cost? Is it

09:48time? Is there some sort of impediment that we're not aware of?

09:52I don't think we can draw conclusions from the data from that specifically, because we

09:57didn't specifically ask that. But I think it is probably about, if they could just sort

10:03of infer, and other things that we've done here, it's really about just the proactiveness.

10:10Over time, what we've seen is that women are now talking about their finances a lot more.

10:16The conversation is there. They're going to social. They're using some of the budgeting

10:20apps more often than they were in previous years. But I think they're not yet taking

10:25that extra step to talk to a real professional yet.

10:29Alison, you mentioned side hustles. So did you, Alyssa. It's come up a few times now,

10:35and we at Forbes love an entrepreneurial mindset. Can you each talk about what struck you in

10:40this data when it comes to how women are seeking side hustles? And also, if there's

10:45anything you learned about what specific side hustles they might be turning towards to supplement

10:49their income?

10:51Yeah. So we don't have any data on specific side hustles, but we found that nearly half

10:58of the women we surveyed either themselves have participated in a side hustle or know

11:03someone who has. This is a very common trend that we've seen in other data among Gen Z

11:09in particular. And to see the amount of women Gen Z that are participating in this is really

11:16promising. It shows that they are working hard, trying to earn money given all of the

11:22financial stress that they're facing. And then some other trends that emerged are things

11:28like no spend challenges, DIY, do it yourself, really methods that are focused on saving

11:35money. The trends that we saw a little bit less engagement on from women are related

11:42to budgeting, to debt repayment, and to investing. I think there's some opportunity for more

11:48education in terms of those financial trends, but definitely very promising in terms of

11:54the side hustles.

11:56That's interesting. So people are doing no spend challenges like no spend January, but

12:02they're eschewing budgeting.

12:05Budgeting apps are definitely an under leveraged resource for women. It could be access, understanding

12:12of where to go and what to trust. But they're focused more on what they're seeing on social

12:18media. We had 48% of Gen Z women tell us that social media is where they go for financial

12:26advice and trends.

12:28Alyssa, do you have anything to add on the side hustle conversation here?

12:33No, I think Alison covered it perfectly in terms of what the data told us.

12:37Alison, you mentioned Gen Z in your last answer, and I understand that this data does kind

12:43of break down generational differences. Alyssa, what jumped out at you in terms of the difference

12:49between how Gen Z, millennial, Gen X women are looking at and managing their money?

12:56One of the most striking stats that we found actually was about where people go to tap

13:01into in their networks, where people go to find financial advice. And 76%, an overwhelmingly

13:08percentage of Gen Z women look to their parents for financial advice. The percentages were

13:14much lower for some of the other generations. So I just thought that was a striking, I mean,

13:19not entirely surprising, right? But it was a striking difference there of just the majority

13:25of people in Gen Z, majority of women going to their parents and looking to their parents

13:30for financial advice. And I think it's also telling of a lot of things that we were reading

13:36in the economy around the wealth transfer and things like that. So that really struck

13:41out to me.

13:42I was just about to say, when we think about the trillions of dollars that stand to be

13:46transferred among generations, turning to family actually makes a lot of sense in that

13:51context. Alison, I'll turn to you in terms of the generational breakdown. Was there

13:55anything about millennial or Gen X women and how they manage their money that you think

14:00is especially striking?

14:03So with millennial women, they're kind of that bridge generation where we see them engaging

14:08a bit more in social media and also their parents to a lesser extent than Gen Z. But

14:16that is something that they're focused on. And in terms of their goals, we mentioned

14:21home ownership. Profession is also, and career, is also a major source of financial stress

14:28in their life. So that's something that they're focused on as well. I would have to get back

14:34to you on the Gen X. I can dig into the data now if that's something that we want to talk

14:39about.

14:41When you say career is a stress, is it that they're not making enough money? Because I'm

14:46thinking about the side hustles, right? So side hustles can be a sign of taking charge

14:52of your finances, right? But it can also be a signal that your primary job is not meeting

14:57the bills. Did folks tell you anything specific about what their primary jobs are paying them?

15:06We don't have any specifics in the data in terms of what about their career is causing

15:13stress. But what we can infer from seeing that it is a major source of stress for Gen

15:19Z and millennial women tells us that these are people that are more nascent in their

15:23careers. They might not have yet established themselves in a career. We also saw with Gen

15:29Z women that education and their educational goals are a source of stress. So this is something

15:35that's signaling to us that they are apprehensive about their careers, their trajectory, and

15:43also their finances as well as those go hand in hand and might be picking up more side

15:47hustles, as you mentioned, to pay the bills in addition to their day job.

15:53We've covered a lot of ground, but I want to ask you both, is there anything we've not

15:57discussed that you think is especially important about this year's data and maybe compared

16:01to prior years?

16:02I think we discussed a lot of it. Like I said, in years prior, we have always compared men

16:08versus women. And those trends didn't really seem to move a whole lot, which is why this

16:13year we decided to focus only on women. So the trends that we saw in previous years,

16:18you can imagine, right? Women were less confident in talking about their finances than men.

16:24Women less often asked for a raise and less often got that raise than men, their male

16:29counterparts. However, over the years, we did see those trends increase for women. So

16:35if we had compared to men this year, I think we would have seen some increases as well.

16:39So we are gaining some ground versus our male counterparts. But this study, like I said,

16:45focused on women. And I think it is interesting to see some of those generational differences

16:50and the fact that, I think Alison called it out in the beginning, that women are more

16:55confident than they have been in previous years, at least talking about their finances

16:59and having those conversations, whether it's with their friends and family and their personal

17:02networks or on social media, which I think is a great sign. I think there's still a lot

17:07of work to be done for women to continue to be proactive in managing their personal finances.

17:13And I would just encourage women out there listening to seek some professional advice.

17:17You don't have to make millions or even close to millions to get the advice of a financial

17:21advisor. At Lowell Road, we do a lot of counseling and free consultation if you have student

17:26loans and what best to do there as a specialized form of advice. So I would just encourage

17:33women out there to continue to be proactive and really seek professional advice if they

17:37feel like they need it. Yeah. And what's clear to me is that, you know, in this data, we

17:43see a lot of the younger generation taking control of their finances and being proactive.

17:49So that's something we expect to see as we continue to see those generations move into

17:56the next phase of their life. And as Alyssa said, you know, this is very promising. They

18:03are looking for guidance. It's very clear. They're working with, you know, their families

18:09talking about these things. They're going to social media. There's so much noise on

18:14social media. There's not really a way for them to gauge, you know, what's good advice

18:18and what's not. And so this is a great opportunity for them to look for more professional financial

18:25guidance. And there's a lot of tools out there, everything that Laurel Road has to

18:28offer. There's a lot of opportunity for women to continue to empower themselves. Now, I

18:35know we're talking about data that was collected in February, but if I can ask you both to

18:39look into your crystal balls based on what you see in this year's data and what you see,

18:43especially around what you just talked about, about the confidence and about the seeking

18:47of resources. Do you think that the 2026 version of this research will find that personal finance

18:54finances are not as stressful for women as as they've been in prior years?

18:59Maggie, I would just speculate a little bit by saying that, you know, last year it was

19:04also the vast majority of women that felt a lot of anxiety due to economic factors in

19:10terms of managing their finances and meeting those goals. So that's that was pretty consistent

19:15year over year. But we have to remember that last year was an election year. This year

19:19in February, obviously, the new administration was taking shape and will continue to. Regardless

19:25of what we all think about the administration, I think certainty is a good thing. So as the

19:30year continues to unfold, at least we will have some certainty on some big economic changes.

19:36Right. So I think women will hopefully start to settle a little bit and become even more

19:42confident in their ability to manage their personal finances through any and all transitions.

19:48Because again, laughter with an election year always brings a lot of anxiety and uncertainty.

19:53This year, you know, early days on the administration. And I think certainty is a good thing either

19:59way that allows people more confidence in what they can do with their personal finances.

20:03Well, Alyssa Schaefer, Alison Brady, thank you so much for joining us to discuss this

20:08research. It's really interesting. And we will have to have you back when you do that

20:122026 version. Thank you.

New Survey Reveals How Women Are Managing Money—And Stress—In 2025's Uncertain Economic Times

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