In Our Best Interest: Women, Financial Literacy, and Credit Card Behavior

Data from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation’s National Financial Capability Study revealed that women were more likely to engage in costly credit card behaviors--like incurring late and over-the-limit fees--than men. After controlling for a number of demographic variables, including financial literacy and a self-assessment of mathematical ability, the gender-based differences in credit card behavior were eliminated. These findings suggest that credit card management differences between the sexes could be reduced if parity existed between men and women on important variables that women tend to trail men on, such as income and financial literacy.