A Thryve guide for HR, benefits & people leaders
The Confidence Gap
Why financial wellness benefits miss women, and what actually changes money behavior.
The short version
Most workplace financial wellness programs are built on an assumption: if people know more, they will do better. The research on women and money points somewhere else. Women often know enough. What gets in the way is confidence, and the stress that takes over when money comes up.
That changes what a program needs to do. Instead of more information, women need a calmer starting point, a simple routine they can repeat, and other people doing the same work alongside them. This guide covers what the research shows, the three stress patterns we see most often, and a checklist for evaluating any financial wellness offering, including ours.
1. It's not a knowledge gap
For years, financial literacy surveys have reported that women score lower than men. Look closer and a different picture appears.
In a survey of 6,000 people, simply asking women to avoid “I don’t know” cut the gender gap in scores in half, from 6 percentage points to 3.1 The knowledge was there. The confidence to use it was not.
Confidence is not a soft extra. Researchers have linked financial confidence to budgeting and saving, keeping up with bills, planning ahead, and handling financial anxiety.4
Information isn’t the gap. Confidence and follow-through are.
2. Why more information doesn't change behavior
Financial education has never been easier to find. Podcasts, apps and webinars are everywhere. Yet, as one advisor told Forbes, the volume itself can feel overwhelming and keep people from acting.3
This is the intention-behavior gap, and it shows up far beyond money. In health research, intention explains only about 30–40% of what people actually do.5 Wanting to change, and even knowing how, is not enough. Something has to carry people from the decision to the action, again and again.
For money, a big part of that “something” is the body. When money feels threatening, stress responses take over before logic gets a turn. You can’t out-budget your nervous system.
3. Three patterns we see most often
At Thryve we work with three common stress responses to money. None of them are character flaws. Each one is the nervous system trying to keep someone safe.
| Pattern | What it looks like at work and at home | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Avoidance | Unopened statements, delayed benefits enrollment, skipped 401(k) decisions, “I’ll deal with it later.” | Small, finishable steps and a set time to look. |
| Hypervigilance | Constant checking and researching, trouble deciding, quiet worry that drains focus. | A clear “enough information” point and a routine that contains the checking. |
| Emotional Spending | Spending to relieve stress or mark a hard week, then regret when the total arrives. | A pause before buying and other ways to meet the underlying need. |
The goal is Self-Trust: calm enough to pause, decide, follow through, and adjust when life changes.
4. What actually moves the needle
Across the research and our own work, four ingredients show up again and again.
Regulate before you educate
Short, body-based practices (a few slow breaths, grounding, noticing tension) give people enough calm to engage with the numbers instead of avoiding them. This is the first step in our Regulate → Organize → Expand framework.
A routine people can repeat
In a study of more than 1,100 young women, participants in every group, including the control group, reported higher financial confidence and better money habits over time, just from regularly reflecting on their finances. The researchers recommended fostering ongoing conversation about money to close the confidence gap.4 A weekly money date and a monthly “Know Your Numbers” check-in turn that finding into a habit.
Other women doing the same work
The same study found that reading other women’s stories of positive money experiences raised confidence as much as a short educational task.4 Peer stories and group sessions are not a nice extra. They are part of the mechanism.
Time, not a single session
That study also found confidence gains from one-time activities faded within a month.4 One lunch-and-learn can open the door. Lasting change needs structure across the year.
5. A checklist for evaluating any financial wellness program
- Does it address the stress around money, or only the information?
- Does it give people a simple routine they can repeat weekly or monthly?
- Does it include peer connection, not just individual content?
- Does it last long enough to build a habit (months, not one session)?
- Is it designed with women’s experiences in mind?
- Is it clear about what it is and isn’t (education and behavior change, not investment advice)?
- Is there a physical or tangible element people will actually use?
- Can you see participation and progress over the year?
6. How Thryve brings this to teams
| Option | What it includes | Investment |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Wellness Journal | A refillable A5 binder system with weekly money dates, monthly check-ins, somatic exercises, budgeting and vision mapping. Ideal for new-hire kits, client gifts and company merch. Ask about adding your logo. | From $50 per journal 10-journal minimum |
| Thryve Financial Wellness Club™ | Journals for every participant, a kickoff workshop, and monthly money dates throughout the year. Built for benefits programs, ERGs and teams that want lasting behavior change. | Custom pricing |
| Financial Wellness Workshop | A 60-minute session on how stress shapes money decisions, with a simple framework people can use the same day. | Custom pricing |
Lead time is typically 2–4 weeks. Every product is intentionally designed, sustainably produced, and made in the USA.
Bring Thryve to your team
We’ll help you choose the right format for your people, budget and calendar. A 20-minute call is usually enough to know if it’s a fit.
Start a conversationinfo@jointhryve.coNotes
- Berard, D. “Women’s financial literacy scores show lack of confidence, not knowledge.” Future of Good, January 9, 2026.
- “Trading Stocks Builds Financial Confidence.” The Economic Journal, 2024 (Stanford University co-author). Baseline survey, % “don’t know” answers by gender.
- Houston, M. “Financial Literacy Isn’t The Problem. Why Women Still Struggle To Build Wealth.” Forbes, May 27, 2026.
- Peetz, J., Howard, A. L., Hollingshead, S., & Soliman, M. “Increasing financial confidence in Canadian women.” Journal of Financial Literacy and Wellbeing, 2026.
- “Why We Don’t ‘Just Do It’: Understanding the Intention-Behavior Gap in Lifestyle Medicine.” American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine (PMC6125069).
Thryve provides financial wellness education and behavior-change tools. This guide is not financial, investment, legal, tax, or mental health advice.