Women are earning, creating, and managing more wealth than ever before, yet a significant confidence and engagement gap persists when it comes to long-term financial decisions. That is the headline finding from the St James’s Place Financial Health Report 2026: Women and Wealth, published this week.
The report, based on a major UK survey, reveals a striking disconnect: while women lead on day-to-day household budgets, they are far less likely than men to invest, take financial advice, or feel financially comfortable. For women running their own businesses, the findings have direct implications for how they manage not just their company finances but their personal wealth.
The Key Findings
The numbers paint a clear picture of inequality in financial confidence and action.
Women are more likely to be struggling financially. Nearly a quarter of women (24%) said they are struggling financially, compared to 18% of men. Women were also less likely to describe themselves as financially comfortable (31% vs 44% of men).
Women invest far less than men. Just 27% of women invest, compared to 43% of men. Among younger women aged 18 to 34, the figure is slightly higher at 29%, suggesting a generational shift may be underway, but the gap remains wide.
Women take less financial advice. Only 25% of women have received professional financial advice in the past 10 years, compared to 31% of men. This matters because the report found a direct link between receiving advice and financial confidence: women who receive advice are significantly more likely to feel confident managing their finances and adjusting their financial plans.
Yet women lead on household budgets. The majority of women (84%) said they are involved in household finances, and 46% lead on managing the household budget, compared to 39% of men. Women are not disengaged from money. They are disengaged from the financial decisions that build long-term wealth.
Why This Matters for Women in Business
For self-employed women and female business owners, these findings hit differently. Running a business means you are responsible for both your company’s finances and your own financial future. There is no employer pension contribution, no automatic savings scheme, and no safety net beyond what you build yourself.
The pension numbers are particularly stark. According to The Investors Centre analysis of UK pension data, women aged 55 to 59 hold median private pension wealth of just £81,000, compared to £156,000 for men, a 48% gender pension gap. For self-employed women, the picture is even worse: only 20% of self-employed UK adults contribute to a pension at all, down from 50% in the late 1990s. Meanwhile, separate research from LV found that over half of UK women (52%) have never held any investment product.
The fact that women are less likely to invest and less likely to seek financial advice means many female entrepreneurs may be building successful businesses while neglecting their personal financial resilience. Business profits that sit in a current account rather than being invested, pension contributions that are deferred year after year, and insurance gaps that are never addressed are all patterns that the data suggests are more common among women.
Government research also shows that the gender gap in pension contributions widens significantly with the arrival of a first child, driven by differences in employment rates, hours, and wages that emerge at that point and often never fully recover. For women who leave employment to start a business around the same time as starting a family, the combined effect on long-term financial security can be substantial.
The Rose Review estimated that closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship could add £310 billion to the UK economy. But if the women building those businesses are not securing their own financial futures in the process, the full benefit of that growth is not being realised.
The Advice Gap
Perhaps the most actionable finding in the report is the impact of professional financial advice. Women who have received advice are dramatically more confident in managing their finances and more likely to have a financial plan in place. Yet three quarters of women have not taken advice in the past decade.
The barriers are familiar: cost, not knowing where to start, feeling that advice is not aimed at them, and a financial services industry that has historically been designed around male clients and male communication styles. For self-employed women, there is an additional barrier: the perception that financial advice is for people with substantial wealth, not for someone reinvesting every pound back into their business.
However, the SJP report found that advice transforms confidence. Among women receiving ongoing financial advice, 74% were confident making investment decisions, compared to just 41% of those without advice. Similarly, 82% of women who receive advice felt confident managing a significant inheritance, versus 52% of those who do not. And 68% of women with advice were confident adjusting their pension contributions, compared to just 43% without.
In reality, financial advice for a business owner can be as practical as setting up a pension through your limited company (where employer contributions are tax-deductible), understanding how to take income tax-efficiently through salary and dividends, or simply having someone review whether your business insurance and personal protection are adequate.
What You Can Do
The report’s findings are a prompt, not a verdict. If you recognise yourself in the data, here are practical steps you can take.
Start with one conversation. Many financial advisers offer a free initial consultation. Use it to understand what advice might look like for your situation, with no obligation to proceed.
Separate business and personal financial planning. Your business finances and your personal wealth are connected but distinct. Make sure you are thinking about both, not just the one that demands attention today.
Begin investing, even small amounts. You do not need thousands to start. Regular contributions of £50 or £100 per month into a stocks and shares ISA or pension build up significantly over time. The most important step is the first one.
Review your pension position. If you are self-employed or a limited company director, check whether you are making the most of the tax relief available on pension contributions. For limited company directors, employer pension contributions are one of the most tax-efficient ways to build long-term wealth.
The wealth gap will not close by itself. But understanding where you stand, and taking one step to change it, is how it starts.
For more on managing your business finances, read our guides on financial tips for starting your first business and 10 ways to find funding to grow your business.
Sophie Hartwell is Editor of Prowess.org.uk and a business writer specialising in practical advice for women starting and growing businesses in the UK. With a background in enterprise support and digital publishing, she covers everything from business formation and tax to leadership, funding, and professional development. Sophie is passionate about making business knowledge accessible and actionable for women at every stage of their journey.