Exploring the Gender Gap in Financial Literacy: New Survey Evidence from Slovakia

This paper examines gender differences in financial literacy in Slovakia, a country that has been largely under-researched in this area. Using detailed representative micro-data from the 2021 wave of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS), we show that – controlling for relevant characteristics – there exists a moderate gender gap in financial literacy. However, the results of the distributional analysis across quantiles of the financial literacy show that gender differences are the most pronounced in the lower part of the distribution. Furthermore, a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition reveals that in this lower segment, the unexplained component accounts for the majority of the observed financial literacy gender gap. This finding indicates that unobserved factors or mechanisms influencing the acquisition of financial literacy – as opposed to observable differences in characteristics between men and women – are contributing to the observed disparity. Our results could help with the design of more targeted and effective financial education and confidence-building initiatives for vulnerable groups.