Canadian Women Enjoy Wearing the Financial Pants in the Household

MasterCard's 2010 MasterIndex™ of Canadian Women Consumers reveals post-recession consumer behaviour

TORONTO, Nov. 3 /CNW/ - Canadian women are powerful consumers, with half (51%) saying they are responsible for most of the day-to-day household financial decisions, and more than half of those (56%) saying they enjoy being the primary decision maker, according to MasterCard's 2010 MasterIndex™ of Canadian Women Consumers.

The 2010 MasterIndex™ is an update to the original research report released in 2006.  The report examines the role of Canadian women, aged 18 and older as they move through life's stages as economic players and drivers of the consumer economy, while examining the effects of the global recession on consumer behaviour. 

"The recession was a financial marathon, but Canadian women emerged leaner, stronger and more financially satisfied," says Julie Wilson, Director, Public Affairs, "They are more confident in their financial situation.  They are still spending, but they are now dollar-store chic."

As women progress through life's stages, their financial personalities change and adapt accordingly.  These life stages are: Emerging Consumers, New Earners, Moms, The Established and Silver Spenders.

Women Enjoy Wearing the Financial Pants
Over half (51%) of Canadian women are responsible for the day-to-day household financial decisions - down slightly from 55 per cent in 2006.  But more women are enjoying the responsibility (56%, up from 45%).

Moms are most likely to have sole responsibility for day-to-day finances in their household, making them the Chief Purchasing Officers of the family. 

Are Women Financially Satisfied?
Six-in-ten (60%) Canadian women describe themselves as being satisfied with their personal financial situation, with 14 per cent being very satisfied.  This is up from 54 per cent in 2006.

Satisfaction jumps dramatically from 40 per cent to 67 per cent when Emerging Consumers become New Earners.  It drops to 52 per cent for Moms, and rises back up to 72 per cent for Silver Spenders.

Big Big Spenders or Big Big Savers?
Since the recession, nearly six in ten (57%) Canadian women categorize themselves as savers - up from four in ten (41 %).

Canadian women are price-cognizant - three quarters (73%) of Canadian women say getting a good price is more important when shopping for themselves (73%) and their household (72%).  Since 2006, there has been a slight decrease in women willing to pay more for a brand (28% down from 31%).

New Earners (32%) are more likely to pay more for brands for themselves, while Moms are slightly more likely to pay more for brands for their households than for themselves (24% versus 20%).

The full report is available at www.mastercard.ca.

About the MasterIndex™
The 2010 research was conducted by Environics Research Group from July 22 - August 4, via a national online survey of 2,000 adult Canadian women aged 18+. 

Launched nearly 15 years ago, the MasterCard Worldwide MasterIndex™ reports are barometers of consumer attitudes and behaviours.  Other MasterIndex™ reports focused on consumer confidence, retail, travel and women's advancement and have been produced by MasterCard for the Asia/Pacific, South Asia, Middle East and Africa Markets.

To see all the MasterIndex Reports, including the 2006 MasterIndex™ of Canadian Women Consumers, please visit www.masterintelligence.com.

About MasterCard Worldwide
As a leading global payments company, MasterCard Worldwide prides itself on being at the heart of commerce, helping to make life easier and more efficient for everyone, everywhere.  MasterCard serves as a franchisor, processor and advisor to the payments industry, and makes commerce happen by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, governments, businesses, merchants, and cardholders worldwide.  In 2009, $2.5 trillion in gross dollar volume was generated on its products by consumers around the world.  Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network - the fastest payment processing network in the world - MasterCard processes over 22 billion transactions each year,  has the capacity to handle 140 million transactions per hour, with an average network response time of 140 milliseconds and with 99.99 percent reliability.  MasterCard advances global commerce through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro®, and Cirrus®; its suite of core products such as credit, debit, and prepaid; and its innovative platforms and functionalities, such as MasterCard PayPass™ and MasterCard inControl™.  MasterCard serves consumers, governments, and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information, please visit us at www.mastercard.com. Follow us on Twitter: @mastercardnews.

For further information:

AmandaSantino / Olivia Yu
416-969-2756 / 416-969-2718
[email protected]/[email protected]