March 8 study: Romanian women will spend 10 years saving to afford a home deposit

Romania is the European country where men and women are most equal in being able to afford a house deposit, new research from Uswitch.com/mortgages reveals.

On International Women’s Day (8th March), Uswitch.com/mortgages sought to uncover where in Europe women have the best chance of being able to afford their own property. To do this, they analysed Eurostat (1) data of average household saving rates and average annual earnings, as well as income tax rates from the OECD(2). This was then compared to the average property price and the minimum deposit requirements in each country, to thus calculate the number of years it would take women to afford a deposit.

Romania has the smallest saving disparity between men and women 

Despite having to save for the seventh longest period (10 years) to afford a deposit, women in Romania see the smallest saving period gap between men and women. In Romania, women need to save just 3 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days longer than men to afford a deposit. On average, Romanian women save €2,370 annually, just 3.19% less than that of their male counterparts (€2,448)– suggesting that it is a country striving for equality.

Women in Denmark have the shortest saving period

Uswitch.com/mortgages discovered that women in Denmark will save for the shortest period to afford a house, at just 3 years. The minimum deposit for a property in the country is €15,534, the fourth cheapest in Europe and 79% cheaper than their Scandinavian neighbours, Norway (€74,070). Despite Danish women having to save for a shorter period than women in other European countries, it is still  6 months, 4 weeks and 1 day longer than Danish males. However, this is the third smallest saving disparity between men and women in Europe – with just Belgium (5 months, 1 week, 5 days) and Romania (3 months, 3 weeks, 4 days) having a smaller gap.

Bulgaria and Belgium come in joint second place, with women from these countries needing 4 years of savings to afford a deposit. With the cheapest average property price in Europe (€69,360), Bulgarian women also have the cheapest minimum deposit requirement (€6,936). However, despite having to save for just one year longer than in Denmark, women in Bulgaria will need to save for 8 months, 2 weeks and 1 day longer than men – a 22% increase to the saving disparity seen in Denmark.

Despite the average house prices being 250% more expensive than in Bulgaria (€243,120), women in Belgium also save for just 4 years. House prices in the country are the 11th most expensive in Europe, however, Belgian women have the sixth highest net annual savings (€5,404), meaning that a deposit for a property is more affordable. Having to save for 5 months, 1 week and 5 days longer than their male counterparts, the savings gap in Belgium is the second smallest across Europe.

Dutch women will save for the third shortest period in Europe, a total of 5 years. They also have the third highest net annual savings (€6,991) in Europe, 2% less than German women in second (€7,162), and 54% less than Swiss females in first (€15,315). Despite their high savings, women in the Netherlands still dedicate 1 year, 1 week and 3 days longer than men to afford a house deposit. This is a disparity 26% smaller than in Germany, where women save for 1 year, 2 months, 3 weeks longer than men.