Focus on Lebanon | Control of Financial Assets Topic Brief

CONTROL OF FINANCIAL ASSETS

This topic brief presents key findings about asset control based on data from the 2009 SWMENA survey in Lebanon. It includes an analysis of women’s control over assets, focusing on how earnings are spent, financial decision making and control over personal property and financial savings.

Control over Earned Income

The survey asked “When you earn money, what do you do with it?” of women and men who reported that they were employed. Figure 1 summarizes the results for men and women.

• Four in ten women report that their earned income is kept for personal use, but nearly half (49%) spend it on their family or children.
• Few workers report that their earnings are deposited into a bank as savings.