Financial Literacy and the Retirement Gender Gap: The Role of Cultural Schemas

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the construction of financial literacy in the context of retirement among young women in Israel, in light of available cultural schemas. The research challenges economic models that rely solely on assumptions of rationality and self-interest, offering a qualitative expansion of the behavioral foundations of financial literacy. Drawing on in-depth interviews of 46 young women, the findings reveal that their perceptions and choices in the financial domain are profoundly shaped by gendered “schemas of devotion”: devotion to work and devotion to family. These schemas give rise to two orientations: women who are more engaged in the financial sphere, characterized by initiative and reflexivity (resistance to the gendered schemas), and women who are more detached, displaying passivity and emotional distance (adoption of these schemas). The study demonstrates how these cultural models contribute to either the reproduction or transformation of gender inequality in retirement. Its main contribution lies in broadening the discipline of economics and positioning gender as a central analytical category—one that is vital for developing more sensitive policies capable of improving the functioning of the economic system and reducing gender gaps.

1. Introduction

Financial literacy has gained notable political attention and has been defined by many countries, including Israel, as a vital competency with a critical impact on personal well-being and the likelihood of a secure retirement (Lee, 2019; OECD, 2022, 2025a; Wagner, 2019). This issue has become particularly crucial for the younger generation, whose financial environment has changed dramatically—from the diversification of investment products to structural reforms in the retirement system (Bolognesi et al., 2020; Killins, 2017).

A gendered examination of the literature reveals substantial gender gaps in economic status at retirement and in financial literacy associated with it. Gender inequality in pensions is a global phenomenon (Arza, 2017; Bonnet et al., 2018). Research on this gap is primarily quantitative (Cupák et al., 2018). Despite clear quantitative findings, there remains a significant lack of understanding of the underlying explanations and contributing factors (Bucher-Koenen et al., 2017; Fonseca & Lord, 2019). As gender differences are not confined to objective measures of financial literacy, there is a need for studies that examine women as economic subjects in ways that capture their perceptions, approaches, and behavioral motivations (Bucher-Koenen et al., 2017; Farrell et al., 2016).

To address these gaps, the current study explores how women, as economic subjects, construct their financial literacy about retirement within the cultural frameworks available to them. Through this lens, we seek to reveal the cultural and moral forces underpinning the formation of financial literacy among young Israeli women. On the micro level, the research focuses on how these women describe their perceptions and choices regarding retirement-related financial literacy and how these are shaped by gendered cultural schemas. On the macro level, the study examines how these cultural models constrain or—through resistance—enable women’s agency in the financial field and how this, in turn, impacts the reproduction or transformation of gender inequality.

The study’s contribution to the literature is threefold. First, it introduces the missing dimension of women as economic subjects into the field of financial literacy, showing how individual financial decisions are embedded in culture and emotion—an aspect rarely explored (Clark et al., 2012; Davoli & Rodríguez-Planas, 2025). Second, it broadens the understanding of gender gaps in retirement outcomes by highlighting the cultural foundations of these inequalities (Bucher-Koenen et al., 2017; Fonseca & Lord, 2019). Finally, as most studies have focused on older populations (e.g., Driva et al., 2016), and only a few have examined financial literacy among millennials (e.g., Al-Bahrani et al., 2020; Bucher-Koenen et al., 2017; Lee et al., 2019), our focus on women at an early stage of their working lives adds essential knowledge about life-course processes that affect women’s retirement outcomes.

Additionally, the use of qualitative methods (interviews) in the field of economics, which is dominated by quantitative approaches, is a relatively novel contribution (Tejani, 2019). The current study demonstrates the advantages of qualitative inquiry for understanding women’s economic perceptions and decision-making. The knowledge generated through this methodology can yield new insights into gendered financial behaviors and provide practical implications for promoting gender and social equality.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Young Adults’ Financial Literacy in the Context of Retirement

Financial literacy is defined in the literature as the process by which individuals improve their understanding of financial products and concepts through information, instruction, and/or advice; develop the skills and confidence to become more aware of financial risks and opportunities; make informed financial decisions; know where to seek help; and take other effective actions to improve their financial well-being (Katnić et al., 2024). In Israel and other countries, such literacy is particularly necessary in the wake of neoliberal policies and accompanying structural pension reforms that have transferred much of the responsibility for economic conduct (pension savings, related decision-making, and associated risks) from the state and employers to individuals themselves (Herbst-Debby, 2019; Lurie, 2018; Stolper & Walter, 2017).

As a result of the major transformations outlined above, the ability to make sound financial decisions has become increasingly vital for younger generations. Indeed, financial literacy has become essential for their effective participation in society (Alekam et al., 2018; Bolognesi et al., 2020; Killins, 2017). Young people are required to make financial decisions early in their lives—decisions that are of crucial importance for their economic situation in retirement (Killins, 2017; Lusardi et al., 2010). A recent study in Colombia found low levels of financial literacy among university students (Bermeo-Giraldo et al., 2023). Research on the financial literacy of young adults is scarce, and studies addressing retirement planning in this group are even rarer (Al-Bahrani et al., 2020; Lusardi & Mitchell, 2007; Rai et al., 2019).

Financial literacy is particularly important for this generation, who need to make complex financial decisions that shape the future economy (Bolognesi et al., 2020). Young adults today live in an era of accelerated economic growth and a society that has become increasingly entrepreneurial, digital, and globalized (Henager & Cude, 2016). They are growing up amid commercial media, the personal computer revolution, and the rise in feminist and individualist values (Arnett, 2015; Koskelainen et al., 2023). Given the structural shifts in contributory pension systems and the growing availability of financial technologies (Killins, 2017), young people are especially vulnerable and face the risk of insufficient savings amid increasing life expectancy (Bucher-Koenen et al., 2017; Lusardi & Mitchell, 2009). Financial literacy has therefore become a key component of their lives (Alekam et al., 2018), and they are required to make significant financial decisions for their future economic security at a young age (Lusardi et al., 2010).

2.2. Gender Gaps in Financial Literacy and Retirement Outcomes

Studies worldwide with a gendered perspective on pension systems and financial literacy reveal notable disparities in levels of both retirement income and financial literacy (Arza, 2017; OECD, 2025b). Yet, only recently have gender inequalities in pensions and the risk of poverty among older women emerged as a source of concern for policymakers and a topic of political and scholarly debate (Arza, 2017; Bonnet et al., 2018). This gender gap has yet to receive sufficient public attention (Kreyenfeld et al., 2023).

The limited body of literature primarily attributes the gender pension gap to labor market structures and employment-related factors (Amarante & Tenenbaum, 2018; Arza, 2017; Foster & Smetherham, 2013; Riekhoff & Järnefelt, 2017). Moving beyond these structural explanations, recent studies exploring the cultural, institutional, and behavioral mechanisms that sustain gendered inequalities in pension outcomes show that women’s financial decision-making is often embedded in gendered norms of responsibility, care, and moral rationality, which shape their saving behaviors and investment choices (e.g., Davoli & Rodríguez-Planas, 2025; Frericks & Höppner, 2019). Agunsoye and James (2023), for instance, demonstrate how British women employ “gendered finance rationalities” to navigate pension systems that valorize continuous full-time employment, developing alternative strategies, such as informal savings or property investment, to regain a sense of autonomy over their financial futures. These gendered rationalities reveal that norms, values, and emotions profoundly influence financial literacy and long-term retirement security. Recent quantitative research shows that financial inclusion and digital literacy reduce economic vulnerability, yet gendered inequalities persist even when access is expanded (Ekaputri et al., 2025). This suggests that access-based explanations alone are insufficient to account for women’s long-term economic outcomes.

The gender gap in financial literacy persists even among young, well-educated women with high labor-force participation rates (Bucher-Koenen et al., 2017). As most of the literature focuses on older adults (Driva et al., 2016), there remains a notable lack of studies examining the gendered contexts of financial literacy among this age group (Al-Bahrani et al., 2020; Lee et al., 2019).

2.3. Feminist Economics

The neoclassical homo economicus model, which assumes that individuals are rational and self-interested actors, ignores the social and cultural influences that shape decision-making (England, 1994; Fineman & Dougherty, 2018). While modern macroeconomic models have evolved beyond the rigid assumptions of the traditional homo economicus and have incorporated bounded rationality and other heterodox paradigms, feminist economics provides a unique critique, highlighting that even the advanced models often overlook the gendered nature of decision-making and the role of cultural schemas, providing an incomplete understanding of social reality in general and of women’s experiences in particular (Babović, 2018; Nelson, 2016). Feminist economists argue that culture, social forces, and economic phenomena are deeply intertwined and cannot be examined separately (Ferber & Nelson, 2003). Like many other disciplines, economics is influenced by social constructions that shape both perceptions and interpretations within the field, often leading to analytical frameworks that lack a gendered understanding of economic actors (Agenjo-Calderón & Gálvez-Muñoz, 2019). Thus, the specific intersection of gendered devotion schemas and financial literacy requires a more nuanced, qualitative framework that moves beyond general rational expectation theories.

Feminist critiques suggest that economic analyses have not adequately emphasized activities and traits culturally coded as “feminine,” such as care work and household economy (Ferber & Nelson, 2003). They argue that gender must be recognized as a central analytical category in order to achieve a fuller understanding of economic realities and of the lived experiences of women and men alike (Becchio, 2018; Gammage & Smith, 2018). Ultimately, such an approach enables a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between social construction and the functioning of the global economy (Agenjo-Calderón & Gálvez-Muñoz, 2019).

2.4. Gendered Cultural Schemas

A growing body of research employs the concept of cultural schemas to explain how culture shapes beliefs and actions (Hunzaker & Valentino, 2019). These schemas are shared, organized cognitive structures that operate automatically and often unconsciously (Oleschuk, 2019; Sewell, 1992). They act as emotional and cognitive scripts for individuals, defining “lives worth living” (Blair-Loy, 2001, 2003). While early scholars conceptualized schemas as purely cognitive networks of associations (Lipsitz Bem, 1983; Risman, 1998), Blair-Loy (2001) expanded the concept to include strong emotional and moral dimensions.

To analyze gender as a social structure, Blair-Loy (2001) introduced two powerful gendered cultural schemas known as schemas of devotion. These are not merely cognitive maps but deeply embodied scripts that engage both body and mind.

The schema of devotion to work (a masculine model) is a model of moral worth based on capitalist society, in which hard work and material success are linked to moral virtues (Hennessy, 2009). This cultural model is associated with the masculine role of the Good Provider, whose duty it is to meet the family’s economic needs. The schema is constructed on the idea of the man as the primary earner, who possesses a strong work ethic, upholds the moral value of personal responsibility, performs work as a calling, and serves as a role model for his children (Folbre, 1994; Hennessy, 2009). Accordingly, it is the man who is principally responsible for providing the family with external resources (Blair-Loy, 2001).

In contrast, the schema of devotion to family (a feminine model) is a model of moral worth that defines marriage and motherhood as women’s primary calling. It demands intensive time and emotional commitment to the family, such that the needs of family members take precedence over all other obligations (Blair-Loy, 2001; Hennessy, 2009). This schema is constructed upon the idea of motherhood, where responsibility for children is the woman’s main purpose and the realization of her maternal nature. Moreover, as children suffer when their mothers work outside the home, the mother who cares for her children receives financial support from the primary earner (Folbre, 1994). This schema assumes a heterosexual marriage, in which women are dependent on their spouses for economic provision and social status, while husbands rely on their wives for the physical and emotional care of themselves and their children (Blair-Loy, 2001; Skolnick, 1991).

The two schemas provide compelling cultural and moral scripts for shaping an individual’s perceptions of the world, which are often unconsciously inscribed as taken-for-granted understandings (Blair-Loy, 2001; Hennessy, 2009). These gendered cultural schemas influence both men and women, setting constraints on the range of interpretations and possible actions for individuals and institutions. While these gendered schemas seemingly create a rigid construction of femininity and masculinity as hierarchical and complementary opposites, pointing to the enduring nature of patriarchy, the practical meanings of these schemas remain open to interpretation and adaptation (Sa’ar, 2017). It is therefore important to examine how women, as social actors, assign meaning to and operate within the cultural models available to them (Blair-Loy, 2001; Gerson, 1986).

2.5. The Israeli Context

This study examines how young women’s financial literacy is constructed within the Israeli cultural and institutional context. Researchers have identified the competing schemas of devotion to work and devotion to family as central to shaping women’s experiences in Israel (Frenkel, 2008). Israeli society’s strong pro-natalist and familistic orientation (Berkovitch & Manor, 2019; Herbst-Debby, 2018) amplifies the influence of the feminine schema of devotion.

Family remains a central and enduring institution in Israel, more so than in many Western countries (Berkovitch & Manor, 2019; Gal, 2010; Herbst-Debby, 2018). As women are socially constructed primarily as wives and mothers, their first obligation is to bear and care for children and maintain their households (Fogiel-Bijaoui & Rutlinger-Reiner, 2013). As Lavee and Benjamin (2015) demonstrate, Israeli familism embeds women’s moral and social value within caregiving and domestic responsibilities, positioning them as the primary agents of emotional and material support within the household. Familism in Israel thus manifests not only in high fertility rates but also in the moral regulation of women through their family roles and in the centrality of motherhood and care within women’s personal and collective identities (Berkovitch & Manor, 2019; Kaplan et al., 2020).

This cultural context is complemented by the state’s institutional context, i.e., its pension system. In Israel, the 2008 Mandatory Pension Law shifted the pension system from a defined-benefit (DB) model to a privatized, defined-contribution (DC) model. In this framework, retirement income depends primarily on individual savings and market performance rather than state guarantees (Lurie, 2018). Notably, Israel is one of the few OECD countries that still utilizes gender-segregated mortality tables to calculate monthly annuities. Because women have a longer life expectancy, their conversion coefficient is higher, resulting in lower monthly payments than men who saved the same amount. Combined with a relatively small public safety net (Old-Age Insurance), the Israeli system places the burden of risk and financial decision-making almost entirely on the individual, making financial literacy a critical determinant of economic security for young women (Herbst-Debby, 2019).

The tension between conflicting cultural expectations, coupled with a gendered DC pension system, renders the case of young Israeli women valuable for extreme-case analysis (Berkovitch & Manor, 2019). Examining women’s experiences through the lens of gendered schemas can therefore deepen understanding of how cultural models shape perceptions and choices in relation to financial literacy for retirement.

3. Methodology

To explore the perceptions and choices of young Israeli women relating to financial literacy for retirement and to understand how these are shaped by gendered cultural schemas, we employed a qualitative research design. This approach contrasts sharply with the overwhelming majority of studies in the field, which have demonstrated women’s financial disadvantages and lower financial literacy through quantitative methods (e.g., Bucher-Koenen et al., 2017; Cupák et al., 2018; Lusardi & Mitchell, 2008; Lusardi et al., 2010; Mottola, 2013; Potrich et al., 2018; Summers et al., 2005). Such a quantitative orientation has left out a crucial dimension: women themselves as economic subjects who construct their financial literacy within existing cultural frameworks through which they interpret the financial domain and attribute meaning to their actions (Blair-Loy, 2001; Ferber & Nelson, 2003; Nelson, 1995; Woolley, 2015). The adoption of a qualitative methodology also responds to calls by feminist economists, who emphasize the need to challenge the conventional methodologies of mainstream economics and expand its toolkit by employing qualitative methods to address feminist economic questions (Ferber & Nelson, 2003; Gammage et al., 2016; MacDonald, 1995, 2005; Nelson, 2016; Pearse & Connell, 2016; Strassmann, 2008; Tejani, 2019; Woolley, 2015).

3.1. Sampling

The study was based on semi-structured, in-depth interviews of 46 Jewish Israeli women aged 25–39. This age range was selected for two main reasons. First, this period of life has been identified as critical for initiating and planning retirement savings (Brender, 2011; Bucher-Koenen et al., 2017; Killins, 2017; Malhotra & Witt, 2010). Second, women in this stage are particularly vulnerable to structural pension reforms due to their growing individual responsibility for savings (the shift from the state to the individual), the intensified conflict between family and labor market demands, and the challenges of navigating an increasingly complex financial environment (Alessie et al., 2011; Bolognesi et al., 2020; Killins, 2017; Standing, 2011; Stolper & Walter, 2017; Van Rooij et al., 2012).

The sampling process was dynamic and followed the principles of purposeful and theoretical sampling (Patton, 2014; Shkedi, 2010). Participants were selected to ensure heterogeneity in terms of family status, profession, and labor-market sector. The focus on Jewish Israeli women was intended to create a relatively homogeneous population for this initial study and to enable coherent conceptualization of the issue within a specific socio-cultural process. To reach a diverse group of participants within the 25–39 age range, we recruited women from multiple settings, such as colleges and various workplaces accessible through professional networks. Throughout data collection, we systematically monitored which predefined characteristics (e.g., marital status, income, and religious background) were underrepresented and continuously adjusted our recruitment efforts accordingly.

In addition, the sample was expanded as themes emerged. Specifically, it became evident that women facing diverse domestic realities, such as single (never-married) mothers and divorced women, exhibited more nuanced and reflexive financial orientations. Consequently, we intentionally expanded the sample to include these voices, recruiting these women through specialized community centers and organizations for independent families, such as the Ramat Gan Family Center, operated by the municipality in cooperation with WIZO (a women’s organization). This expansion continued until theoretical saturation was achieved, ensuring that the findings reflect the multifaceted nature of financial literacy among young women outside traditional marital structures.

Finally, interviewees were often recruited through snowball sampling as participants were willing to refer friends, noting that they found the interview meaningful. Several even asked for permission to invite friends themselves, as they felt the interview could be beneficial to them.

3.2. Data Analysis

To ensure analytical rigor, we combined two complementary methods of analyzing the extensive qualitative data gathered from the interviews: (1) thematic analysis, which captures explicitly stated meanings; and (2) the Languages of the Unsayable approach, which allows interpretation of implicit or silenced meanings. This combination enabled a deeper understanding of both what was said and what could not be easily articulated, thereby enhancing the analytical richness of the data (Rogers et al., 1999).

Specifically, we first conducted a thematic analysis (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009), where themes emerged inductively from the transcripts rather than being pre-defined. This process involved systematic mapping and categorization to identify recurring organizational patterns in the participants’ financial perceptions.

Next, we employed the Languages of the Unsayable framework to capture complexities that participants may find difficult to articulate (Rogers et al., 1999). This method systematically identifies four linguistic indicators: negation (expressing ideas through their opposites), revision (self-correction or contradiction), evasion (hesitation or ambiguity), and silence.

3.3. Reflexivity

To mitigate researcher bias (reflexivity), the analysis began during the interview stage through field notes and continued through verbatim transcription, which allowed for recursive reflection on the data. By triangulating what was explicitly said with “unsayable” markers, we ensured that the interpretation remained grounded in participants’ nuanced emotional and moral realities, rather than the researchers’ preconceptions.

4. Findings

Our interview analysis offers an in-depth picture of how young Israeli women experience and construct their financial literacy regarding retirement. The narratives covered all components of financial literacy and all layers of pension protection in Israel: universal old-age benefits from the National Insurance Institute, occupational pensions, household savings accounts, and the combination of continued employment with pension receipt (Lurie, 2018). Specifically, the women referred to occupational pensions, private savings and investments, wage earnings (which determine pension contributions), daily financial behavior, and household money management. The findings illuminate their perceptions, emotions, and choices, as well as their connections to gendered cultural schemas.

We present these findings in keeping with a core analytical insight: although similar themes appeared across interviews, responses diverged sharply and often contrasted with one another, leading to the classification of participants into two analytical groups. The first group (less literate) comprises women who were more detached, displaying passivity and emotional distance from economic issues. These women tended to embrace the schemas of masculine devotion to work and feminine devotion to family. The second group (more literate) includes those women who were more proactive in the financial sphere, characterized by initiative, reflexivity, and active engagement. They tended to resist these schemas. The organizing pattern distinguishing these two groups was the presence or absence of self-initiated financial action related to pension management. The group of detached women reported taking no initiative regarding any aspect of their financial or pension arrangements. The group of proactive women had undertaken at least one proactive financial action. Table 1 provides an overview of participants’ demographic characteristics across the two literacy groups. This mapping highlights contextual differences, particularly in marital status and family structure, which inform the financial schemas discussed below. Each thematic section represents the collective patterns found across the entire subgroup, as exemplified through individual responses.

Table 1. Distribution of the Two Literacy Groups by Demographic Factors.

Variable	Group 1: Less Literate/Detached (n = 25)	Group 2: More Literate/Proactive (n = 21)
	N (%)	N (%)
Marital Status
Married	15 (60%)	2 (10%)
Single-Never married/ Divorced/Separated	10 (40%)	19 (90%)
Has Children?
No	9 (36%)	13 (62%)
Yes	16 (64%)	8 (38%)
Education
College Degree	19 (76%)	16 (76%)
Secondary Education	6 (24%)	5 (24%)

4.1. Group 1: More Detached from Financial Matters

4.1.1. “It Needs to Be Done, but Let Someone Else Do It”: Passivity in Financial and Pension Practices

A pronounced cognitive and emotional distance from pensions and other financial matters leads many young women to adopt deep passivity in practice. Although they recognize that such inaction is unwise, they avoid taking steps, postpone financial attention, and express reluctance to engage with their own money. For instance:

Q: Do you know how much [pension savings] you’ve accumulated so far?

A: I do, but not off the top of my head. I’m totally out of it. It frustrates me that I’m so disconnected…. I just don’t understand any of it.

Q: Did that bother you enough to do something about it?

A: Yeah, but… [pause]. I once thought about hiring someone to organize everything for me… and somehow that thought just fades away [laughs].

(Shilat, single, no children, department manager at a health organization)

Shilat expresses deep frustration (“I’m so out of it”), conveying a sense of estrangement and alienation. Although she considers acting, the thought “fades away.” Her silence and laughter reveal embarrassment and the tension between the rational understanding that she should act and the emotional avoidance that paralyzes her.

Such passivity is acute among married women, who describe near-total detachment, not only from pensions but from all financial matters, often handing over responsibility to someone else. Many identify marriage as a turning point in this detachment:

Until I got married, I knew exactly how much I had…. I always knew when I exceeded my credit limit, I was in control. After I got married, we opened a joint account. Now I don’t touch it, don’t touch it.

(Sharon, married, two children, pregnant with third, social worker)

For Sharon, marriage marked the loss of financial control. Moving to a joint account coincided with complete withdrawal from financial management, symbolizing the delegation of responsibility to her husband, reinforcing her passivity.

Meital took a similar stance: “So yeah, you need to pay attention to that stuff. You should… [laughs]… but let someone else do it for us”.

(Meital, married, pregnant with first child, social worker)

The women in this group provided two main explanations for their seemingly irrational choice of inaction. The first concerns emotional comfort—avoiding confrontation with complex financial matters:

No one really explains to us what pension means, what those monthly payments are. So, it’s just easier to take all those letters from the bank or the savings fund, shove them in some drawer, and not look at them again. Then I feel guilty. Why don’t I look at it? [smiles].

(Alona, single, no children, academic coordinator)

Alona attributes her avoidance to a lack of accessible explanations, finding passivity emotionally convenient. Physically hiding the documents helps her evade an unpleasant cognitive and emotional effort.

The second explanation is lack of time due to childcare demands and the exhaustion of motherhood:

Maybe it’s just a decade of life that’s overloaded—with little kids, with all kinds of energies and resources that go there. Any issue you can push aside, you do, to save strength, money, and time for other things.

(Anat, married, one child, nurse)

For Anat, caring for young children requires total emotional and physical investment. Pension and financial issues are deferred as she prioritizes her caregiving duties.

In sum, women’s passivity stems both from emotional needs and from a perceived scarcity of time and energy. Further, they choose to be passive despite their awareness that this behavior is ultimately detrimental.

4.1.2. “It Doesn’t Interest Me; It’s a Man’s Thing”: Financial Literacy as a Male Role

Women in the “detached” group believe that the person responsible for financial matters—both for the household and for their own pension—is the man. Usually this refers to a spouse, but sometimes to a father or brother. The women willingly relinquish this role, often expressing no desire to know what decisions are made.

They acknowledge that this delegation is rooted in social and gender norms linking financial competence to masculinity. While they comply with these norms, they also express discomfort and embarrassment about doing so. Ilanit puts it bluntly:

Q: Would you like to know more about pensions, investments, or finances?

A: No, it doesn’t interest me. It’s a man’s thing.

(Ilanit, married, one child, eldercare worker)

By defining the financial domain as “a man’s thing,” Ilanit removes it from her sphere of interest and responsibility.

Likewise, Tami describes a lifelong pattern of delegating financial decisions:

I’m the daughter of a banker… all my life, whenever I had money, I’d ask him: Dad, what should I do with it? He’d tell me what’s best. It was so easy.

Q: And how is it today?

A: My partner handles it now. Sometimes he even consults with my father. At first, I told him I didn’t want him to tell me [about the money], but then he asked me why, and so on.

(Tami, cohabiting, one child, lecturer)

Tami’s transfer of responsibility is total: she not only refrains from initiating action but also explicitly asks her partner not to involve her, maximizing her detachment.

Recalling her initial reaction to being interviewed, Gali states:

I have no clue about this stuff, and I hope you’ll guide me or help me understand the questions, because I’m just not interested. The man of the house is the one who’s into it [laughs]. It’s on his shoulders [laughs].

(Gali, married, one child, unemployed)

By referring to her husband as “the man of the house,” Gali signals her awareness of the gendered nature of this division. Her repeated laughter betrays embarrassment over adopting such a traditional split.

Notably, most of these women admit they are unsure whether their partners actually understand financial matters well. The transfer of responsibility occurs by virtue of gender norms rather than informed trust. Gali continues: “At least he acts like he knows what he’s doing. I’m not sure how true that is. I think he’s doing something with it. We never talk about it.” The phrases “I’m not sure,” “I don’t know,” “we never talk about it” highlight the unexamined nature of this arrangement. Tal offers a similar glimpse:

Q: When you send him your annual pension reports by email, does he open them?

A: I hope he does. What a sad answer [laughs].

(Tal, married, two children, speech therapist)

Tal’s remark reflects her awareness that her reliance on her husband stems not from rational assessment but from emotional avoidance. The women explicitly identify the cultural basis of their behavior: societal expectations that men handle finances while women focus on caregiving. As Gali summarizes, “Oren is a man, and he’s supposed to know about these things. That’s the social expectation” (Gali, married, one child, unemployed).

In sum, women in the detached group position financial literacy as a male domain. This is consciously shaped by gender norms they both recognize and internalize, while simultaneously feeling uneasy about the irrationality of this division.

4.2. Group 2: Proactive Financial Involvement

In contrast to the distance and passivity described by women in the detached group, the second group of young women present a completely different picture. They discuss their active engagement with financial and pension matters, as well as the emotional and practical meanings they attribute to it, and how these attitudes reflect their evolving gendered identities.

4.2.1. “I Don’t Think I Can Rely on Pension Savings Alone”: Active Financial Practices

Due to their stronger identification with financial matters, the women in this group take an active, self-directed approach to planning and managing their economic futures. They make concrete financial plans, maintain additional savings beyond the mandatory pension, learn about financial management, and take explicit control of their personal and household finances. At work, they negotiate salaries and benefits assertively, market themselves, and express a sense of entitlement to financial reward. They perceive such activity as necessary, possible, and desirable.

Shani demonstrates a proactive and analytical approach:

I think that the investments and savings I have are what will determine my quality of life. My pension is invested in companies that could collapse any day. That’s why I’ve tried to diversify—my pension in one company, my study fund in another—so that if one falls, I still have the other.

(Shani, divorced, one child, employee welfare manager in a high-tech company)

Shani deliberately diversifies risk and supplements her pension with additional savings, exercising control through strategic thinking.

Similarly, Aya describes a developmental process of assuming financial responsibility:

At first, I really didn’t want to deal with it, so my mother handled all of it for me. Then, at some point, I decided to take things into my own hands and asked her for all the documents. Now I’m totally on top of it.

(Aya, single, no children, filmmaker)

Aya’s reference to taking “things into my own hands” reflects both physical and emotional ownership, sharply contrasting the passivity expressed by the detached women (“I don’t touch those things”).

Mika recounts how anger and awareness motivated her to act:

I started getting interested lately, after realizing that we—me and my coworkers—had no idea what we were doing. It annoyed us, so we decided to take initiative and invited the insurance rep ourselves. Someone told me he earns three times my salary, so I switched plans and even started an additional savings policy with risk coverage. Because the bank gives you nothing.

(Mika, married, one child, HR employee)

Mika’s awakening was emotional: frustration at gendered disparities triggered initiative, which in turn strengthened her sense of control.

The women also take active ownership over their wages and employment benefits, asserting their right to demand fair pay:

I realized I wasn’t staying with that salary. I told my boss, “Sweetie, not only am I staying late, you’re also giving me a raise, or I’m leaving.” After a year and a half of financial anxiety, he gave me just 500 shekels. I said, “No way, I’m worth more,” and I quit. In the exit interview, he said, “Fine, take ten [thousand].” He gave me a 4000-shekel raise. That’s when I realized what I’m worth.

(Reut, divorced, one child, administrative coordinator at an educational institution)

Reut, who described a year and a half of financial anxiety following her divorce at the age of 29, realized that she wanted and needed to take more control over her working conditions. She demonstrated determination and confidence to demand the salary she thought she deserved. This increased her confidence to manage her salary going forward.

These women also make independent pension decisions, relying on their own assessment rather than professional or spousal guidance:

They made recommendations, but I checked everything myself: yields, management fees. I’m skeptical by nature, being a lawyer, so I don’t just buy what they’re selling.

(Naama, single, no children, tech lawyer)

Naama emphasizes personal scrutiny, analytical thinking, and mistrust of authority—key traits of active financial literacy.

Liron describes an instance of voluntary learning: “I once went to a seminar, something to make women more aware of the stock market. I think it was organized by the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange” (Liron, single, no children, interior designer). She even brought her sister along, underscoring her belief in shared empowerment. Liron not only welcomes financial education but also perceives herself as part of a collective effort to bring women into a male-dominated field.

In sum, women in the proactive group demonstrate ongoing, self-motivated engagement. Their activity expands as they gain knowledge, accompanied by growing awareness of gender disparities and a determination to challenge them.

4.2.2. “A Woman Should Understand It Just like a Man”: Financial Literacy as a Shared Responsibility

For proactive women, responsibility for financial literacy—in general and in relation to retirement—belongs to every individual, regardless of gender. They handle their pension and finances independently and see women as equally accountable for the family’s economic security. They reject the notion that men are naturally more competent in financial matters, viewing such beliefs as outdated and harmful.

These women are acutely aware of the structural gender gap in retirement outcomes and attribute it to gendered labor market patterns and women’s behavior within them. For instance:

It’s important for every employee to understand pensions. A woman should understand it just like her husband, like a man. Anyone who works or doesn’t work should know what it means; it’s everyone’s responsibility, regardless of gender.

(Lotem, single, pregnant with first child, HR employee)

Lotem corrects herself, replacing “husband” with “man,” revealing her awareness of gendered assumptions and her attempt to neutralize them linguistically.

Reut expresses even sharper criticism of the dependency of married women:

When I talk to married women, they sometimes tell me it doesn’t matter, everything’s shared anyway, their pension, too. They’re delusional…. Who decided that finances belong to men? Don’t you want to live with dignity?

(Reut, divorced, one child, administrative coordinator at an educational institution)

Reut’s experience as a divorced woman has reshaped her awareness: she regards women’s financial dependence on husbands as dangerous and self-deceptive. Her rhetorical question—“Don’t you want to live with dignity?”—transforms personal finance into a moral and feminist issue.

Tamara links increasing financial awareness to social and technological change:

I think it’s important for everyone, regardless of gender. And in our generation, it’s starting to spread—through workplaces, through private initiatives. There are all those “lectures on the bar” that make learning accessible and fun.

(Tamara, single, no children, animal-care worker and NGO field manager)

Similarly, Shiran frames disengagement from money as socially regressive:

Just like I find it crazy if a woman today doesn’t work, it’s just as crazy for her not to deal with money. To say to her husband, “Here’s my paycheck, you handle it”—you’d have to be really disconnected, or make a very deliberate choice… like, to marry someone [laughs].

(Shiran, single, communal living, no children, nurse)

Shiran’s tone blends irony and critique: she views financial independence as a norm of modern womanhood. In her eyes, dependence on a husband represents conscious withdrawal from autonomy.

Ronit contrasts her own proactive stance with that of other women:

I know about my savings because I checked it myself with the insurance company. They said, “Other women usually want to withdraw it,” and I told them, “I’m not other women.”

(Ronit, twice-divorced, two children, customer retention representative)

Ronit’s response that “I’m not other women” signals pride, defiance, and perhaps a sense of victory over internalized norms. Like others in the proactive group, she positions herself as an agent of change, rewriting the gender script of financial dependency.

Finally, Aya reflects on the persistence of traditional archetypes: “I think we’re still suffering from this illness, even though the world has progressed so much” (Aya, single, no children, filmmaker).

These women actively strive to dismantle inherited models and promote change, both in their own lives and in the next generation. They see financial literacy as a core dimension of modern female identity and as a pathway to equality and autonomy.

5. Discussion

Focusing on young women’s financial literacy in the context of retirement, we found that the literacy of all our interviewees is structured by gendered cultural understandings or schemas, i.e., cultural and moral scripts that shape perceptions and meanings (Blair-Loy, 2001; Ferber & Nelson, 2003; Gerson, 1986; Nelson, 1995; Woolley, 2015)—and thereby also action in the arena of financial literacy. However, how the women, as social actors, structure these understandings, give meaning to them, and act based on available cultural models appears to differ: one group acts in accordance with the cultural schemas, while the other group explicitly resists them. The responses of each analytical group add multiple layers to Blair-Loy’s (2001) devotion schemas. Our findings complement recent evidence showing that financial inclusion does not automatically eliminate gendered economic inequalities (Ekaputri et al., 2025). We show that cultural schemas shape women’s engagement with financial literacy itself, helping explain why access alone produces uneven outcomes across the life course.

Specifically, among those women in the “detached” group who are less financially literate, both of these devotion schemas, the feminine and the masculine, are inherently embedded in their perceptions and choices regarding financial literacy with respect to retirement. In keeping with the “masculine” schema of devotion to work, in which meeting economic needs is the individual’s family obligation, the young women in this group primarily attribute the role of responsibility for family financial literacy—and, within it, the responsibility related to their own economic future—to the man, surrendering their own responsibility and maintaining a great cognitive and emotional distance from it. This finding adds to the cultural and moral model of devotion to work, expanding it to the financial arena. Whereas studies that examined its power and influence applied this schema mainly to the man’s role as primary earner, with work as the main focus of his life (Blair-Loy, 2001; Blair-Loy & Cech, 2017; Williams et al., 2013), the current research expands the schema to the man’s role as responsible for the family’s overall financial literacy, including knowledge on financial matters and making all financial decisions about the present and future economic well-being of family members. Moreover, going beyond the man’s economic responsibility for the family as a unit (Blair-Loy, 2001; Folbre, 1994; Hennessy, 2009), the schema is expanded to include the man’s responsibility for the woman’s personal economic future as an economic subject, for which she relinquishes her role. This is so significantly embedded in the schema that it is even found among some unmarried women, who attribute the role to other men in their lives, such as boyfriends or fathers.

The young women in this less financially literate group also reveal nuanced understandings based on the “feminine” schema of devotion to family (Blair-Loy, 2001), whose content is directed at the woman’s dependence on her partner for income and social status (Blair-Loy, 2001; Folbre, 1994; Skolnick, 1991). The current study expands the content of dependence to a broader financial arena and to longer time dimensions. The women depend on their partners not only for their own ongoing sustenance as part of the family unit but also in the context of financial literacy regarding their personal future life during retirement. Another layer constitutes an expansion of a central idea in this schema—namely, that women should reduce their work hours to devote time to their family and childcare work (Blair-Loy, 2001; Blair-Loy & Cech, 2017; Hennessy, 2009). Our findings show that this required availability of the woman involves not only the resource of her time but also a conceptual-perceptual resource. While financial literacy is commonly defined as the knowledge and understanding of financial systems (Lusardi & Mitchell, 2014), we take this one step further, focusing on the discursive and cognitive foundations of this literacy—the way thinking and talking about one’s financial future serves as an essential precursor to formal education and financial engagement. Without these subjective perceptions, objective learning and positive financial choices are less likely to occur.

In contrast to the women in the first analytical group, our second “proactive” group of young women view financial literacy about retirement and, in general, as the duty of every person, man or woman, expanding upon the “masculine” schema of devotion to work. They feel that all women should show interest in the important issue of financial literacy. They manage their pension and financial matters themselves, actively seek relevant information, initiate financial planning for their future, and view women as having a role in caring for their family’s economic security. The women in this group also exhibit different thinking about the “feminine” schema of devotion to family, which defines marriage and motherhood as women’s primary mission, outweighing all other commitments (Blair-Loy, 2001; Blair-Loy & Cech, 2017; Hennessy, 2009). Acknowledging social constructions about the expected role of women in the family, they explicitly act against them, choosing not to rely on a man financially for income, social status, or financial literacy.

Our findings suggest a compelling link between demographic status and the internalization of gendered cultural schemas. We observe that married mothers are more likely to adopt devotion schemas—particularly devotion to the family—which often results in delegating financial agency to spouses. In contrast, women who are single or divorced tend to display higher levels of financial reflexivity and active resistance to these schemas. For divorced women in particular, the dissolution of a partnership often serves as a turning point, dismantling the illusion of financial security through a spouse and fostering a critical view of traditional gender roles. They can no longer afford to adhere to schemas that promote financial passivity, and this structural necessity prompts them to embrace financial literacy. Thus, their engagement is not merely a technical skill but a pragmatic resistance to cultural models that previously marginalized their economic independence.

The current research adds a significant dimension to the literature on gender inequality in pensions, which currently provides explanations that focus on the labor market (e.g., Madero-Cabib, 2015; Riekhoff & Järnefelt, 2017), by offering missing knowledge about processes throughout the woman’s life course that affect her retirement. Our findings contribute by highlighting how cultural schemas construct financial literacy and hence engender such inequality, with gender as a structure that deeply penetrates the economic-financial arena. This allows for an understanding of the dominant place of culture in explaining gender inequality, while showing how the agency of young women operates within clear boundaries of a gendered social structure: we demonstrate that while the gender structure shapes women’s financial agencies, the display of their financial literacy in the pension context may either reproduce or challenge this structure, impacting their broader socioeconomic status. This penetration of gender into the financial arena is especially significant, as young women make critical financial decisions affecting their retirement and the future of the economy (Killins, 2017).

The study is not without limitations, which primarily stem from the difficulty in generalizing its findings to populations of women with significantly different cultural characteristics. As this preliminary research is the first to examine the implications of financial literacy within a social process, it focused solely on Israeli Jewish women. This was intentional in order to allow for analysis of a relatively homogenous population, enabling the formulation of an initial understanding of the subject. Nonetheless, similar patterns are likely to apply to women from other cultural groups due to the pervasive nature of the gender structure. Further research is required to explicitly examine the similarities and differences between women from different cultures, as well as within the same culture, to deepen the understanding of cultural explanations and their implications for gender inequality. An additional limitation relates to the study’s focus on young women. Notwithstanding the significance of the findings for this age group and for society, it is recommended to investigate additional generations, especially younger ones, to gain a broader picture of life-course processes that influence the development of gender gaps in financial literacy and women’s well-being in older age.

While the current study provides a deep qualitative understanding of cultural schemas, it is limited by its context-specific nature. Future research should build upon these findings by developing standardized instruments to measure gendered schemas of devotion. By operationalizing these schemas through such instruments, researchers could utilize large-scale databases and robust econometric methods to test the prevalence of these models across broader populations. Such a mixed-methods trajectory would further validate the relationship between cultural schemas and the retirement gender gap, allowing for greater generalizability across socioeconomic and cultural settings.

The knowledge emerging from our research contributes to the effort to expand the discipline of economics. Our study challenges existing assumptions about self-interest and rational choice and highlights that feminist approaches can contribute greatly to economic knowledge production systems (see also Ferber & Nelson, 2003; Nelson, 2016). Building on advanced life-cycle models of retirement and insights from behavioral and feminist economics, our study extends existing economic frameworks by examining how financial decision-making is shaped by gendered cultural schemas. While contemporary economic models acknowledge bounded rationality and institutional constraints, they often treat preferences and risk behavior as largely individual and gender-neutral. Our contribution is critical in that it demonstrates how pension-related decisions are embedded in gendered norms of responsibility, care, and moral obligation, which systematically shape financial literacy and long-term retirement outcomes. By integrating these qualitative dimensions into the analysis of defined-contribution pension systems, the study offers a more comprehensive explanation of persistent gender gaps in retirement security. The current findings indicate that culture is highly important for understanding the economy and that gender must be included as a central category in economic analysis as a political practice to improve the functioning of the economic system so that all individuals, including women, can gain access to shared lives on a basis of equality. The feminist knowledge yielded by this study allows for increased understanding of why men and women have different levels of financial literacy and how women experience literacy. This understanding is vital in any effort to develop gender-sensitive economic policies aimed at reducing gender inequality in pensions and in general. Indeed, we recommend applying the theoretical framework of gendered cultural models to the analysis of additional issues in the financial arena in order to provide a more complete picture of the connection between economy and social structures. We also recommend that further studies examine the shaping of the female financial subject by the state and culture and the formation of women’s identities in the financial arena. In this way, research can raise awareness of the issue and be transformative at the grassroots level, adding a layer in the pursuit of gender and social equality and justice.