HER STORY IS OUR STORY

The Financial Journey of Women in the U.S.

📜 THEN: A Brief History

21st Century: Progress and Ongoing Challenges

  • 2009 – The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is signed into law, expanding workers’ rights to sue for gender-based wage discrimination.
 ➤ Source: White House Archives
  • 2020 – Women own 42% of U.S. businesses, but still receive less venture capital and business funding compared to men.
 ➤ Source: American Express Women-Owned Business Report

19th Century: Legal Beginnings

  • 1839 – Mississippi becomes the first U.S. state to grant married women the right to own property.
 ➤ Source: Wikipedia – Married Women’s Property Acts
  • 1848 – New York passes the Married Women’s Property Act, allowing women to control property and income earned during marriage.
 ➤ Source: Forbes
  • 1862 – The Homestead Act allows single, widowed, and divorced women over 21 to claim land, granting economic opportunity and independence.
 ➤ Source: Smart Money Mamas

Early 20th Century: Founding and Voting

  • 1903 – Maggie Lena Walker becomes the first woman to charter a bank in the U.S., empowering Black Americans with access to financial services.
 ➤ Source: Texas Bankers Association
  • 1920 – The 19th Amendment grants women the right to vote, enhancing their influence in economic and social policy.
 ➤ Source: HerMoney

Mid–20th Century: Legal Protections

  • 1963 – The Equal Pay Act makes it illegal to pay women less than men for the same work in the same workplace.
 ➤ Source: U.S. Department of Labor
  • 1964 – The Civil Rights Act (Title VII) prohibits employment discrimination based on sex, including in hiring and wages.
 ➤ Source: EEOC

For much of U.S. history, women were legally and culturally excluded from financial autonomy.  Women couldn’t open a bank account or credit card without a male co-signer until the 1970s.

1970s: Financial Autonomy

  • 1972 – Title IX is passed, expanding gender equality in education and indirectly impacting women’s economic potential.
 ➤ Source: U.S. Dept. of Education
  • 1974 – The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) passes, making it illegal to deny a woman credit based on sex or marital status — a landmark moment.
 ➤ Source: Wikipedia
  • 1975 – First Women’s Bank of New York opens, majority-owned and operated by women, offering financial education and services tailored to women.
 ➤ Source: Wikipedia
  • 1977 – The Women’s National Bank opens in Washington, D.C., the first nationally chartered women’s bank.
 ➤ Source: Wikipedia

💰 NOW: The Current Financial Landscape

Today women own homes, businesses, investments—and their future.

💰 Wages & Income

  • 2023: Women earned 83¢ for every dollar earned by men — a widening gap from 84¢ in 2022.
*(Source: TIME)
  • Women of color face deeper wage gaps:
Black women: ~64¢
Latinas: ~51¢ 
compared to white, non-Hispanic men.
*(Source: AAUW)
  • 2024: Younger women (25–34) earn 95¢ per dollar compared to men — the smallest gap on record.
*(Source: Pew Research)
  • 2025: Full-time mothers earned only 74¢ relative to fathers, highlighting the motherhood wage penalty.
(Source: The Guardian)

👩‍💼 Labor Force & Economic Participation

  • 2025: Women now constitute 46.8% of the U.S. workforce and hold 29.2% of senior roles in S&P 500 companies, yet comprise only 8.2% of CEOs.
(Source: Wikipedia: Women in business)
  • Over 212,000 women left the workforce, citing loss of remote work, high childcare costs, and lack of support.
*(Source: TIME)
  • Women continue to carry the primary burden of caregiving, impacting long-term earnings and retirement security.

📉 Student Loan Debt

  • Women hold nearly two-thirds of the $1.6 trillion in U.S. student loan debt and are disproportionately affected by resumed loan collections and wage garnishments.
 (Source: Teen Vogue via AP News)

📈 Wealth & Investing

  • Women now control about one-third (~$18 trillion) of U.S. investable assets, expected to rise to $34T by 2030.
*(Source: McKinsey)
  • 2025: Growing wealth among “She-elites” — women now own 15.2% of luxury real estate and stand to benefit from a $30 trillion intergenerational wealth transfer.
*(Source: New York Post)
  • Women are urged to take more investment risks and start earlier, as disciplined investors often outperform men.
*(Source: TIME)

⚖️ Legal & Policy Efforts

  • 2025: Reintroduction of the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 17), aiming to strengthen wage transparency and legal protections.
 *(Source: Wikipedia)

👵 Life Expectancy

  • As of 2023, average life expectancy in the U.S. is 81.1 years for women, compared to 75.8 years for men—a 5.3-year gap, widening from 4.8 years in 2010 which means greater retirement needs.
(Source: CDC)

💡 Why does this matter?

Knowing our financial history and progress of women in the U.S. is not just educational—it’s empowering.    

It allows us to see how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go.  It puts today's money gaps into context such as the gender pay gap, the wealth gap, and higher debt loads for women which helps us to understand the legal, cultural and systemic inequalities affecting us.  It empowers women to rewrite the narrative and to take control of their finances in a world that told them not to.  It builds solidarity and community and creates connection when we learn that our mothers, grandmothers, or great-grandmothers faced barriers just for being a woman.  

Women have made major gains in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and ownership — yet gaps in pay, investment access, and credit equity still remain.  The fight for true financial equality continues.  

The bottom line is that money is power and learning about the history of women's struggles and triumphs in the financial world will help us understand the past, navigate the present and build a more equal future.

FAQ: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  • ✅ Independence – Make choices without financial dependence
    ✅ Security – Be prepared for emergencies or life changes
    ✅ Confidence – Negotiate pay, invest smartly, plan long-term
    ✅ Generational Impact – Teach kids, break cycles, build legacy

  • Financial empowerment = freedom.

    Women have the right to earn, grow, and own their financial future.
    Now is the time to level up with Money Moves For Women — we can provide knowledge, tools, confidence and the community you need.

  • To become financially secure, a woman needs to understand and apply core financial principles that cover earning, managing, growing, saving, investing, protecting, and planning her money.

    We can help you to understand your money today with an action plan in any stage of your life.

SUBSCRIBE

SUBSCRIBE