Let’s make financial education work for everyone, says Aberdeen ahead of International Women’s Day

Aberdeen has consistently called for the UK to strengthen financial education and build a national culture of saving and investing. Today, it outlines further proposals to help the UK go a step further towards building better financial outcomes for all. 

It comes as Aberdeen commissioned research*, using the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Centre ‘Big Three’ questions, shows that just under one third of Brits have good financial literacy (31% for women and 33% for men). While men and women score similarly overall, it differs significantly at the more extreme ends. 

Some 12% of men (extrapolating to 3.2 million) have ‘very poor’ financial literacy compared to 22% (6.2 million) of women. Meanwhile, 41% of men (11 million) demonstrate ‘very good’ literacy, compared with just 18% (5.2 million) of women.  

The Government’s recently updated Financial Inclusion Strategy acknowledges that gender should be taken into consideration as the Strategy progresses. Aberdeen data explains why.

Aberdeen suggests two areas of focus for the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy to move forward with impact and purpose:

• Targeted initiatives that address the specific impact of financial exclusion on women. This is a notable omission given the distinct challenges they face, including the gender pay gap, career breaks, and lower pension accumulation. More must be done to engage women of a younger working age. 

• Aberdeen welcomes the UK’s commitment to explore participation in the OECD PISA 2029 Financial Literacy Assessment.  But the UK should go a step further, tracking emergency savings levels, insurance coverage, investment participation, usage of debt advice and buy now pay later schemes, and financial literacy attainment, broken down by vulnerability, income, gender and region.

Kristina Church, Group Head of Sustainability at Aberdeen, said:

“Many people in the UK still find money matters confusing or intimidating, not because they lack ability, but because the support around them is inconsistent, inaccessible or simply not designed with real life needs in mind. These gaps can have real consequences: missing bills, problem debt, financial stress and entering later life with smaller pension savings. Over time, these individual impacts add up, affecting households, communities, and the wider economy.

“It is critically important to engage women in financial education at an early age, ideally before they enter the labour market. Explaining and educating young women on the benefits of engaging with critical financial issues such as pensions earlier, starting in schools, can make a huge difference by the time they reach later-life. Financial education is not a “nice to have”, it is a critical life skill.”

Helen Foster, 16+ Programme and Delivery Director at Money Ready (an Aberdeen charity partner), said:

“Women aren’t less capable with money. However, our research suggests that women are less equipped. It revealed a systemic knowledge gap across every major financial decision, from mortgages to pensions. 

“The solution isn’t telling women to be more confident. It’s about making financial knowledge more accessible, earlier, and in ways that work for everyone. Money Ready is closing the knowledge gap by meeting people where they are, with clear, expert-backed guidance that cuts through the overwhelm.”

Money Ready, a charity partner of Aberdeen Group since 2022, has already reached around 15,000 young people, with a further 10,000 on the way. Their impact speaks for itself: a 45% reduction in missed bills, a 64% fall in evictions, and a 60% decrease in average debt for participants.

The £45,000 pension gap

These gaps in financial literacy play out in meaningful long term financial outcomes – median average pension pots among those with ‘very good’ literacy reach around £62,500, compared with £17,500 for those with ‘very poor’ literacy. Similar disparities appear across other asset types, with the median value of men’s total investments excluding cash savings worth £37,500, compared to £17,500 for women. While the reasons for these gaps are structural and complex, financial literacy will also be a key driver.

Ends

*Aberdeen used the ‘big three’ financial literacy questions, developed by, and with kind permission of, the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Centre. Sample size: 3,000 UK adults, nationally representative, between November 10-20 2025. Source: Opinium Research.

Media enquiries 

Jemma Jackson

Head of Campaigns and Media, Aberdeen
jemma.jackson@aberdeenplc.com
07776 204 610

Yoosof Farah

Campaigns and Media Relations Manager, Aberdeen
yoosof.farah@aberdeenplc.com 
07345 441 771

*The ‘Big 3’ financial literacy questions posed were: 

1. Suppose you had £100 in a savings account and the interest rate was 2% per year. After 5 years, how much do you think you would have in the account if you left the money to grow?
- correct answer: More than £102 

2. Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account was 1% per year and inflation was 2% per year. After 1 year, with the money in this account, would you be able to buy…
- correctly answer: Less than today

3. Do you think the following statement is true or false? Buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than a fund [that invests in the stock market on your behalf].
- correctly answer: False 

Notes to editors

About Aberdeen

Aberdeen is a leading Wealth & Investments group, working to help millions of customers and clients turn their financial goals into reality. Our purpose is to enable our clients to be better investors, and we are structured around three core businesses:

• interactive investor - the UK’s second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform, enables c.500,000 customers to plan, save and invest in the way that works for them.
• Adviser - the UK’s second-largest advised platform by AUA, provides financial planning solutions and technology for UK financial advisers, enabling them to deliver value for their clients. 
• Investments - a specialist asset manager leveraging scale and expertise across public and private markets to capitalise on the key themes shaping global markets. 

As at 31 December 2025, Aberdeen managed and administered c.£556bn of client and customer assets.

www.aberdeenplc.com 

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