'Urban Indian women have low financial freedom'

Chennai, March 7 (IANS) Even as their number is rising, the financial freedom of urban, working women in India is low and needs significant improvement, says a survey conducted across 11 cities.

"The Life Freedom Index score for urban women at 58.3 on a scale of 100 indicates that their financial freedom is low and needs significant improvement," Sanjay Tripathy, executive vice president (Marketing and Direct Channels) at HDFC Life Insurance Company, said while sharing the findings of the survey with the media here Wednesday.

According to Tripathy, the Indian urban woman needs improvement in areas like financial planning, sufficiency and adequacy.

For the majority of the urban women, children's education is at the top on their priority list when they chalk out their financial plan followed by health expenses, family holidays and house rent/EMIs.

The survey says the women's financial plans are not reviewed at regular intervals and realigned with life's significant events.

Only 19 percent of those surveyed said they reviewed their financial plan frequently while 65 percent did that once in a while.

Forty-two percent of the urban women chalked out their financial planning with the help of friends and relatives, while 26 percent consulted professional financial advisors.

Tripathy said HDFC Life would come out with products based on the survey findings in a couple of months.

The survey was conducted by HDFC Life along with market research firm ValueNotes.

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'Urban Indian women have low financial freedom'