Research shows women feel empowered when they are healthy rather than when they are earning more money

A new survey conducted by Belle Lingerie, found out of 1000 women in the UK, 68.30% of those respondents chose being a healthy individual as something that made them feel empowered.

Their research is looking into how women across the UK define empowerment.

In the Oxford dictionary, the term empowerment is defined as ‘authority or power given to someone to do something’.

Belle Lingerie, the branded swimwear and lingerie retailer, placed a focus on health, finance, lifestyle and relationships to see how women define empowerment based on these categories.

The UK is entering further into a financial crisis, and, since the pandemic, more people are becoming conscious about their health.

According to government statistics, seven in ten adults in the UK were more motivated in 2021 to get healthier due to COVID-19.

But, do women feel empowered by their financial or health status?

When asked the question of ‘What does success look like to you?’ The majority of respondents valued being healthy to be a sign of success.

However, when the research was broken down, it saw different responses depending on their ethnicity.

They found the majority of black women (76% of respondents) chose career progression, Arab women (81% of respondents) chose saving money often and both White (67% of respondents) and Asian women (78% of respondents) both chose being a healthy individual to be successful.

How empowered did they feel from their financial situation?

Feeling empowered from their financial situation differed amongst the respondents’ age brackets, as well as their ethnicity.

The research has shown that most of the women in the UK are not financially independent.

Overall, 46% of women voted that they are still looking to become financially independent and currently require support or loans, which was the most common answer.

The highest response for this answer came from 50% of 18 – 24 year olds who don’t feel financially independent.

The only age group that voted differently were ages 45 – 54 and over, where 49% said they feel completely financially independent.

Following on from these results, the research found that most women are only left with £1-£50 of disposable income at the end of every month.

22% of White and Arab women voted that they are left with this amount of money at the end of the month.

17% of Black women are normally left with £51-£100 whereas 16% of Asian women were left with the most disposable income at £151-£200.

Therefore, the research found differing results across the UK to show the different financial situations of women from different cultures, which inevitably has shown that money has an impact on how they define their empowerment.

More women are feeling positive about their futures in their chosen industries, as 54% see opportunities to progress in their careers.

Regardless of their financial or health status, 537 of women chose the ability to effect change as something they found to be the most important element of female empowerment.