The Financial Literacy: Is it Just a Dream for Woman?

The VISA International Barometer on Women’s Financial Literacy does not give us a positive notion. The survey was conducted among the 25,000 women from 27 countries. The questions included in the survey were

Do you have and follow a household budget?

According to this survey the initiation for the budgeting of women were lower than men. Women from Brazil, the US, South Africa and Canada fared better in having and following a household budget. Women from Pakistan and Serbia found to be in the bottom of the list.. Russian and Belarus woman almost follow their budget if they have. Lack of fund found to be the main reason behind not having a budget.



How many months’ worth of savings do you have set aside for an emergency?

More than 3 months of savings were accrued for emergencies by the women in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. They found to be more cautious about the emergency. Well, men are better in this also but only women in Australia succeeded men in this. Generally Asian women found to be more financially literate with more savings for emergencies. Women in Egypt, Serbia and Ukraine were the poorest performers in this category and the weakest in this category is Pakistan. Their savings are just an average of 0.7months expenses which kept aside.


How often do you talk to your children ages 5-17, about money management issues?

It seems only Mexican and Brazilian women are bothered about spreading financial awareness into their younger generation! They speak to their kids about 41.7 weeks on money management. The worst countries are South Africa and Indonesia. Brazilian women spend 39.5 weeks and the least bothered ladies in this category are in Vietnam; they take only 3.9 weeks.

To what extent would you say that the teenagers and young adults in your country understand the money management basics are adequately prepared to manage their own money?

Only Vietnamese women are more hopeful about the financial literacy of their young adults and the financial management capabilities. After that Indian and Indonesian women. The losers are Canada, Bosnia and the USA.


At what age do you think the governments should require schools to teach financial literacy to children, so that they can better understand money management issues?

Most women in the world think that the proper age for financial literacy classes is around 11 years. But Brazilian women suggest around 8 years and Vietnamese around 13.

The happiest countries in 2013

The survey conducted by the UN on the happiest countries has identified Denmark in the top position. The scoring was based on the GDP, life expectancy, social support, corruption and freedom. The welfare model is the key factor behind the growth of Denmark as the happiest country. According to this welfare model, pension schemes are implemented by the state, the state supports the maternity and the paternity leaves and unemployed and disabled are provided with help and benefits. The income tax is 60% and this is the same rate of interest of other social taxes. The VAT is 25%. The tax amount is distributed among the needy.

The Flexicurity which is a combination of flexibility and security focusing on the hiring and the firing system in the labor market. Job loss which is very common in Denmark is compensated with creation of new jobs. Every year around 250000 jobs are smashed and nearly 800000 people change their jobs every year. Along with frequent hiring there are various schemes training programs and free education program for the unemployed. The voluntary withdrawal from the employment may result in automatic withdrawal of unemployment benefits. These welfare benefits are with huge tax rate and the Danish tax rates are the highest in the world.

Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Austria, Iceland and Australia are the toppers after Denmark. The report indicates that the happiest countries are rich countries. In these 61 countries have improved in their happiness while 41 of them has gone down. Industrial nations are not seemed to be happy for example India is in 111th place behind Pakistan. The US is in the 17th place and the countries hit by the economic crisis are found among the unhappiest.

The term Gross National Happiness was coined by the former King of Bhutan Mr Jigme Singye Wangchuck. In 2011 the UN directed its member countries to measure the happiness of the people to coin public policies.

The Remittance Report

Remittance to the developing countries has increased by 60% over the past 14 years and the center of this growth is the people from East Asia and Pacific region. By 2013 the remittance rate is expected to increase by 7.4% which makes a total of $115 billion. The EAP region has around 35 million people who have migrated to different countries. The number of female migrants is more than males.

India with $69 billion is at the first place. India is followed by China $60 billion, Philippines $24 billion, Mexico $23 billion, the Egypt and Nigeria $21 billion each. This report was released by World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief.

Remittance to the Europe and Central Asia has grown to 10.3% and will reach $43 billion in 2013 with contributions from Moldova 25%, Tajikistan 48% and Kyrgyz Republic 30%. In Latin American countries, remittance is expected to be $61 billion in 2013 which will be 2.5 % more than that in 2012.

The Syrian refugees before the current Syrian civil war were only 674000 and they remitted around $6.1 billion per year. The number of Syrian refugees by 2013 September has crossed 2 million; the largest numbers of Syrian refugees are distributed between Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

The remittance to Middle East and North Africa region ( MENA) are expected to reach $49 billion ie, a growth by 3.6%. As per the report of UN Population division 19 million migrants from this area are living outside this region since birth. There are 1.7 million Egyptians in Saudi Arabia, 927,000 Moroccans in France and 712,000 Egyptians in UAE. And Egypt is the sixth largest beneficiary in the world with 40% of remittance from the Middle East and Africa region.

The remittance is expected to grow by 8.8% annually for the next three years then reaching $515 billion by 2015.

Government Shutdown and Obamacare

Government shutdown is a situation where Congress fails to pass authorization for the funds which is sufficient for the administration. What is the reason for the current shutdown? It is Affordable Care Act (ACA) or The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) which is better known as Obamacare. And why the Republicans hate Obamacare? The truth is that no one dislikes the plan but it came through Mr Obama and that is the foremost reason for the hatred. In Reuters/Ipsos poll says most of the republicans support many provisions of Obamacare but the way Mr Obama and his ministry conveyed was wrong

Few provisions of Obamacare:


• Creating an insurance pool where small businesses and uninsured have access to insurance exchanges to take advantage of large group pricing benefits
• Providing subsidies on a sliding scale to aid individuals and families who cannot afford health insurance
• Requiring companies with more than 50 employees to provide insurance for their employees
• Allowing children to stay on parents insurance until age 26
• Banning insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions;
• Banning insurance companies from canceling policies because a person becomes ill
• Expanding Medicaid to families with incomes less than $30,000 per year


This shutdown will be alarming since the US is hitting its debt ceiling by October 17. This factor can add an advantage to the Republicans who is waiting to derail the Obamacare as well as Mr Obama. The shut down may force the Democrats to accept the GOP way since the country doesn’t have the reserve to carry on with the administration. But the last Wednesday meeting didn’t give any signals of relaxation from Mr Obama’s side but he emphasized on simple stopgap funding bill to reopen the agencies.