Starting conversations about money in social settings is key, because if we don't share what we're learning then we can’t make this topic mainstream. More widely, I think it's important for any women's movement to be intersectional rather than focus on one particular subsection or demographic. That's what creates a learning environment, and enables people to be curious, ask questions, and share knowledge. It's important we create spaces where people feel welcome, included, and able to show up as their whole selves. This is an essential part of what makes Money Movers work, as we know the barriers people are facing. How important was it for you to create a space where everyone feels comfortable and included as part of these sessions? Which is a huge indication of culturally what was acceptable, and allowed systemically, in terms of women making long-term financial decisions. Before 1974, a woman in the US couldn’t apply for a credit card, mortgage or open a bank account without their husband's permission. ![]() Historically, there's also been lots of systemic barriers. When you look at who is representing them, only 17% of independent financial advisors are women and you won't find many people of colour or people who are marginalised with other types of identity. Women are typically disengaged from these bigger financial systems and can feel patronised when trying to engage. For example, a woman now in her 30s is likely to be £145,000 worse off than a man of the same age by retirement. Therefore, there are lots of inequities when looking at the impact of that lack of long-term financial decision making. Whilst women tend to manage everyday finances, long-term finances often get left to men. 62% of married women in a survey by UBS admitted leaving management of long-term finances to a spouse. Why do you think women have traditionally been less financially confident? What’s more, every single woman has said that she feels more confident in aligning her financial choices with her values as a result of Money Movers, and that’s crucial in ensuring women can continue to be conscious about these choices throughout their lifetimes. The pilot programmes saw over 140 women move £1.2 million for climate action – 28% of the women in the pilots switched their bank account, 20% switched their pension and 20% made a sustainable investment. But peer support helps us translate those intentions into concrete action. There's increasing awareness about the power of our money, but for many of us, turning good intention into action can be off-putting as these topics can be abstract, boring and complex. The group can discuss questions that they might never have considered before, giving them an opportunity to go deeper into their relationship with money. These groups meet in person or online for conversations about their values, climate action and money – mapping out where their money is, what they know about it, identifying areas for change and supporting each other to take action. The host then recruits women from their network – friends, family, neighbours, or colleagues – to come together for a three-session peer learning programme. Women sign up to volunteer to become a Money Movers host, and first they get trained by the Money Movers team and equipped with a toolkit of resources. Now we're scaling our programmes to reach 1000's of women (and allies of other genders) to move our money so that we can create secure futures for ourselves, our families, and the planet. ![]() These pilots found that the peer-to-peer programme worked, with 140 women moving £1.2million for the planet after just three sessions. They ran their first kitchen table prototypes in 2018 and then brought in peer-learning specialists Huddlecraft to design and pilot the project (originally called OwnIt 1.5). The team recognised that this wasn't just an information gap but required social support for women to make changes with their finances. Yet, research found a striking gender gap with 83% of women wanting to do good with their money, but only 17% feeling confident in accessing financial products to help. They recognised the potential our money has for climate action – globally, mainstream banks have invested $4.6 trillion in fossil fuel expansion since the 2016 Paris Agreement. How did Money Movers come about?įriends of the Earth, a longstanding Triodos charity partner, came up with the idea via their experiments team. ![]() We spoke with Anneka Deva, Money Movers director, to find out more about the initiative, its achievements and aims for the future.
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