£4,000 cash ISA cap: can it help close the gender investment gap?

Would a £4,000 cash ISA limit mean more women start investing? Kalpana Fitzpatrick looks at why women don't invest as much as men and what could help them start

Female on a sofa trading
(Image credit: damircudic via Getty Images)

UK chancellor Rachel Reeves is not the only one who wants you to stop putting your money into cash ISAs, especially if you're a woman, as you are quite simply missing out on wealth accumulation.

AJ Bell Money Matters, a campaign run by the investment platform AJ Bell to promote women’s financial independence, found that while women were ahead of the game when it comes to saving, holding around a million more cash ISAs than men, the same cannot be said about investing with men holding around 500,000 more stocks and shares ISAs. HMRC data shows men’s ISAs are worth at least £3,000 more than women’s. It also means the UK has a gender ISA gap totalling £6.6 billion. This is one of the many financial gaps women face, such as the pensions gap.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up
Kalpana Fitzpatrick

Kalpana is an award-winning journalist with extensive experience in financial journalism. She is also the author of Invest Now: The Simple Guide to Boosting Your Finances (Heligo) and children's money book Get to Know Money (DK Books).

Her work includes writing for a number of media outlets, from national papers, magazines to books.

She has written for national papers and well-known women’s lifestyle and luxury titles. She was finance editor for Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Red and Prima.

She started her career at the Financial Times group, covering pensions and investments.

As a money expert, Kalpana is a regular guest on TV and radio – appearances include BBC One’s Morning Live, ITV’s Eat Well, Save Well, Sky News and more. She was also the resident money expert for the BBC Money 101 podcast .

Kalpana writes a monthly money column for Ideal Home and a weekly one for Woman magazine, alongside a monthly 'Ask Kalpana' column for Woman magazine.

Kalpana also often speaks at events. She is passionate about helping people be better with their money; her particular passion is to educate more people about getting started with investing the right way and promoting financial education.