Source: Supplied. Nita Morgan, chief executive officer of Prime Loans.
That theme is a timely reminder that empowering women is not only about expanding opportunities in the workplace, it is also about strengthening their ability to build financially resilient households and communities. This is particularly the case for more than 42% of South African households that are female-headed, according to Statistics South Africa's 2024 General Household Survey
In these households, women are not just the primary earner but the sole one, deciding which bills must be paid first, stretching grocery budgets until month-end, and finding money for school uniforms, transport and unexpected medical expenses. Increasingly, they are supporting both children and ageing parents while trying to build financial security for themselves.
Much of this work goes unrecognised, inside the household rather than in the workplace. Yet without it, many households simply would not cope. Women's financial resilience is therefore not simply a women's issue. It is a national economic issue.
Old Mutual's recently released 2026 Savings and Investment Monitor found that 56% of working women often or always worry about debt, compared with 46% of men. Almost half, 45%, belong to the "sandwich generation", supporting children while also helping parents or older relatives financially.
The savings challenge
International research shows a similar pattern. Women spend significantly more time providing unpaid care than men, often reducing working hours or interrupting employment to care for children or ageing relatives. These decisions frequently come at a financial cost that lasts for decades.
Lower lifetime earnings, interrupted careers and reduced retirement contributions mean many women enter later life with less financial security than men. Financial resilience is shaped not only by what women earn today, but by the cumulative impact of the responsibilities they carry over a lifetime.
Yet women continue to demonstrate remarkable resilience. The Old Mutual research shows that 63% of working women have taken on additional work or side hustles to supplement their income. Four in 10 approached a creditor during the past year to negotiate alternative repayment arrangements rather than simply falling behind. Many are actively adjusting spending and managing debt to keep their households stable.
But resilience is about more than earning a higher income. It is also about access to the right tools when life becomes unpredictable.
Savings remain one of the strongest foundations of financial security. But building meaningful savings has become increasingly difficult for many households.
The same Old Mutual research found that 45% of women are not confident they have saved enough for retirement. When an unexpected expense arises before savings have accumulated, households still need safe ways to manage the shock.
This is where financial inclusion becomes important. Access to safe, regulated financial products and financial education gives consumers more options. Responsible credit should never replace saving, but it can provide an important bridge when emergencies occur before households have built adequate buffers.
Consumers must also understand how South Africa's regulated credit system works.
Financial literacy is often reduced to budgeting and saving. But consumers also need to distinguish between regulated lenders and illegal operators, understand affordability assessments and know their rights under the National Credit Act.
This knowledge is increasingly important as illegal lenders target financially vulnerable consumers. When people feel they have run out of options, they become vulnerable to operators who promise quick cash while charging excessive interest, withholding bank cards or identity documents, and using intimidation to recover debts.
Improving financial literacy is therefore one of the most effective forms of consumer protection. Additionally, if we are serious about empowering women to empower the nation, supporting women's financial resilience requires more than encouraging entrepreneurship or workforce participation. It also means recognising the realities women navigate and ensuring they have access to the education, protections and financial tools needed to manage those responsibilities confidently.
That must include policy reform that protects consumers while keeping the regulated short-term credit market accessible and sustainable. According to the National Credit Regulator's most recent Consumer Credit Market Report, South Africans submitted 18.5 million credit applications in a single quarter, with approximately 67% rejected.
While the data is not broken down by gender, that scale of rejection inevitably includes many women who are the sole income earner and decision-maker in their household, trying to meet urgent housing, education, transport, medical or caregiving costs with no second earner to fall back on.
Closing the gap
A rejected application does not make the financial need disappear. Where consumers cannot access credit from a regulated provider, some will turn to illegal lenders that do not conduct affordability assessments, disclose the true cost of borrowing or comply with the National Credit Act. For women already carrying disproportionate household and caregiving responsibilities, that can turn a temporary shortfall into a damaging cycle of debt and exploitation.
We therefore support calls for the regulatory framework governing short-term credit needs to be modernised. Pricing limits and fee structures must continue to protect borrowers, but they must also reflect the rising cost of compliance and responsible lending. If legitimate providers are forced to reject more applicants or withdraw from parts of the market, unregulated operators will fill the gap.
Reform should be accompanied by stronger enforcement against illegal lenders, better consumer education and measures to expand access to responsible, affordable short-term credit.
Consumer protection and financial inclusion should not be treated as competing objectives. A well-functioning regulated market must deliver both. Ultimately, empowered nations are built on resilient households, and resilient households are often held together by financially resilient women.
As we celebrate Women's Month, we should recognise not only the leadership women show in workplaces and communities, but also the quiet financial leadership they demonstrate around kitchen tables. Empowered women do empower the nation, but only when they have the tools, knowledge and opportunities to do so.
Supporting that resilience through financial education, consumer protection, policy reform and access to safe, regulated financial services is an investment in stronger families, communities and the South African economy.
