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For women today, there have never been so many opportunities. Once a woman’s ambition, or rather sole option, would have been to become a wife and mother, hopefully married to a man who could provide life-long financial stability. Now she has a wealth of choices – either to have a career, or to have children, or, more common these days, to even have both. The downside of this liberation, however, is that women are now struggling with debt more than ever before.

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With women often putting off ‘settling down’ till later in life, so has arisen a kind of ‘Sex in the City’ attitude to city living. Women in their twenties and thirties not only work hard, they play hard too – and expect all the accessories that go with that lifestyle – including Manolo Blahnik heels and a Chanel jacket. In fact, a recent survey by Co-operative Insurance revealed that an average 30-year-old woman spends £253 a month on grooming alone, including perfume, make-up or gym memberships. At the same time, though, the Chartered Institute of Management’s (CIM) 2007 annual survey showed that the pay gap between men and women has widened for the first time in more than a decade. According to the survey which contacted 42,000 people, ranging from management trainees to chief executives in public and private sector jobs, male managers were paid 12.2% more than females in the year to January 2007, compared with 11.8% in the previous year. That means that not only have women’s debt levels grown, but the struggle to repay the debt from earnings may be harder. In fact, statistics suggest that many women are now outpacing men in the credit problems they are facing.

A recent study by ICM of 800 volunteers found that, on average, debt levels (excluding mortgages) between the genders differ by as much as 139%, with women over 35 owing on average £8,219, compared to average debts of £3,436 owed by men. To make things worse, women may also be more reluctant then men to admit to having debt. According again to the ICM study, over half the respondents said they would be embarrassed if others discovered their debt levels.

In recent years of easy credit, however, the issue has not perhaps been as stark as it may now become in the wake of the credit crunch. Many industry analysts, for instance, are predicting a tough financial year ahead, with banks less willing to approve loans and mortgage deals becoming more expensive. This combined with rising costs of living and existing debt might just be enough to spiral some women’s debt problems out of control.

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But there are steps to take now, which may help:

• If you are in debt and you are worried about your repayments, you need to face up to your financial issues now. Go to the ‘Debt Help’ section of BeatThatQuote.com for practical advice and tips on how to get out of debt. The site can also direct you to professional advisers who will be able to help. Most of all don’t try and manage the burden of debt alone.
• Look sensibly and seriously at your budget. If you are regularly overspending, look at ways to reduce your costs – if you can’t resist the designer clothes, at least try and restrict your purchases to a few items that will last. And combine them with high-street purchases that will save you money.
• Make a weekly budget and stick to it. Limiting yourself to a certain amount of cash, which you withdraw at the beginning of the week, can practically help.
• Get your friends on board. If you have debt, the statistics show that you are very unlikely to be suffering alone. By confiding in your friends, you can agree to socialising in ways that will not bust your bank balance – a dinner with friends at home for instance will be far more cost effective that an expensive meal in town.

There’s little doubt that we live in a society today that places more pressure on ever on our lifestyles. We need to look good, work hard, play hard and appear successful, no matter what the cost. It’s a problem that everybody faces, but perhaps one that is becoming even more of an issue for women as they increasingly strive to prove themselves in the workplace. But with a frank and practical outlook to managing your finances, you can be sure you can overcome any debt problems you might have, at the same time helping to reverse these female unfriendly statistics.