Lebanese Women are more effective than men in managing their monthly budget

Lebanon together with 10 other countries has been chosen by World Bank to carry out a national survey on how people manage their finances and budgets, as well s their perception of public finance management. The 2012 survey was conducted on the basis of a representative sample of 1214 households drawn from across the country. It indicated that Lebanese women performed better than men as 58% of women managed their monthly expenditures more effectively against 46% of men. Moreover, only 49% of the Lebanese people were aware of the size of their weekly expenditure; 51% of married couples tend to have a clear idea of the size of resources at their disposal against 42% of single men and women. Furthermore, some 69.6% of Lebanese people knew how to estimate the size of the financial resources available to cover their essential expenditures, (74% of women against 63% of men).
On prioritizing luxuries, the study indicated that women were less inclined to spend on these items compared to men, whereby 44% of women gave the priority for necessities over luxuries, against 35% of men.  Married couples tend to spend on the basic needs first and 47% of them limit themselves to basic procurements against 25% of single respondents. One other finding of the survey is that demand for secondary needs increases with the increase in income, whereby 65% of low income families do not spend on nonessentials against 29% of high income households. Similarly, 58% of families living on low wages are not able to secure their basic needs until the end of the month, while 37% barely make a living and that 45% accumulate a steady monthly surplus.
In the case of financial deficit, the study revealed that 53% of the Lebanese borrow from family or friends to cover their essential monthly expenditures. Whereas 33% reduce expenditures on essential items; 12% get help from their families, 11% take loan from their work; 10% cut spending on secondary needs and only 9% resort to bank loans.
(Al Diyar, Feb 1, 2015)