Why SheSpends has been successful at helping women

Jill Cornfeld of CNBC.com interviewed business journalist Alicia McElhany about her website SheSpends and how it helps women understand financial issues.

Cornfeld writes, “It’s not always as easy for women to find their community, though, says Alicia McElhaney, 24, a business reporter who lives in Brooklyn. McElhaney started She Spends — a website and newsletter — to help women grow more comfortable with finance.

“‘The goal is to get more women to use their financial power,’ McElhaney said, ‘and we do have financial power.’ As noted on the She Spends site, women make up nearly half the labor force and hold more advanced degrees than men. The site gives women and nonbinary people the tools to close the gaps in wages investing and board seats.Interest in personal finance has been on the rise, with an accompanying spike in websites and experts on the subject. But McElhaney says it still takes more time to find information directed at women.

“Many personal finance or investing groups and websites are male-centric. ‘In some online circles, there isn’t a lot of conversation about the wage gap or why women might not be investing,’ McElhaney said. And in some online forums, such as several financial independence, retire early (FIRE) communities, discussion of gender issues and the wage gap is banned outright, according to McElhaney.”

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