If you read our newsletter regularly, you know that getting more money (and thus more power) in the hands of women is why we started Ellevest. So you won’t be surprised to hear that three news stories got us pretty fired up last week. Three stories that, at their core, all had to do with how society takes power away from women by taking money away from women.

#freebritney, aka ultimate example of a woman being deemed “not good with money”

Last week, Britney Spears, whose net worth is $60 million, requested that her father, who has controlled her finances for the last 13 years, be removed as a conservator. Britney gave a powerful testimony in which she shared that her father often threatened to keep her money away from her if she didn’t fall in line. (She wasn’t even allowed to carry her own credit card.) And let’s not forget the money she’s estimated to have lost — it’s in the millions — while her father was in charge of her money.

OK, now is the time to do some deep breathing.

As you may now know, the judge denied her request. Britney speaking out reminded women everywhere that being in control of your own money means being in control of your own life. That, and that money always more than just money. It’s power and freedom. And that when we lack control of our money — whether through legal action, like with Britney, or thanks to imposter syndrome caused by society telling us that we’re “bad with money” — we are denied control of our futures.

Women start-up CEOs took a pay cut ... and men CEOs gave themselves a raise

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how women-run start-ups have received a declining share of venture capital investments in 2020 and 2021. I wrote about how I had heard, anecdotally, that women CEOs had cut costs more than men CEOs did during the pandemic after an iconic venture capital firm told them to batten down the hatches to weather the pandemic. Thus, they didn’t meet their KPIs (thanks to a reduced workforce), and they weren’t funded.

Ready to add some insult to this injury?

Well, one of the cuts women CEOs made was — get this — from their own salaries. And today male start-up CEOs’ salaries are higher than they were going into the pandemic, while women’s remain lower.

OK, breathe. Just breathe. One more breath. (Try to) shake it off.

Finally: Job numbers are up, but women remain in a She-cession

We remain in a She-cession, as women have been slower than men in returning to work. Some pundits are acting perplexed as to why this is happening … looking right past the disproportionate child- and family-care burdens so many women shoulder, and the support that so many do not get. Ugh.

Again, breathe. But also … our situation isn’t helpless.

Each of us, individually, can keep practicing financial self-care. We can share job and networking opportunities with our friends. We can invest for our futures. We can get ourselves a financial plan. And we can buy from other women. And we can advocate for ourselves at work.

Disclosures