Strengthen the economic autonomy of women, promote access to financial services and spread awareness in the management of personal resources. These are the objectives of the initiative “One woman, one job, one account”, promoted by the Corriere della Sera to which Confindustria joined.

The initiative, which involves the main players in the credit sector and a broad institutional and social partnership, is part of a framework that still sees significant critical elements on the front of women's financial independence and in which access to basic instruments and their autonomous management by women still represent an open challenge.

Data on women's financial autonomy

The data confirm the relevance of the topic. According to the  World Bank Gender Data Portal (2024), 79.8% of women in Italy have an account with a financial institution, compared to 92.6% of men, a gap of more than 12 percentage points, higher than the EU and Central Asian average (around 4.6 points).

This figure, however, includes both personal and joint accounts and does not fully reflect the degree of autonomy in the management of resources.

A different perspective emerges from the Global Thinking Foundation according to which only 58% of women have an account exclusively in their name, while about 31% state that they are financially dependent on their partner or another family member.

It follows that, for a significant share, the relationship with the financial system is not direct but shared or mediated by other family members.

The three lines of intervention of the project

The project is articulated along three operational guidelines: the dissemination, within companies, of information tools dedicated to the autonomous management of economic resources; the commitment of banking institutions to ensure transparent conditions for opening personal current accounts; orientation of non-employed women towards employment services and pathways to work. An integrated approach addressing skills, access and opportunities.

The role of Confindustria and strategic coherence

Confindustria's membership is part of the drive to strengthen female labour participation and reduce gender gaps. The focus is on the link between employment and economic autonomy, skills and financial education in a unified vision.

“Female employment and financial inclusion are two sides of the same coin. In Italy, the employment rate for women is still about 18 points below that of men: in 2024 it was at 53.3% against 71.1%, with very marked territorial gaps,” explains Lara Ponti, Confindustria Vice President for Environmental Transition and ESG Goals. “Analyses by the Bank of Italy show that the gender gap in financial skills, now 7.2%, is reduced by almost half among working women. This is a clear fact: work strengthens independence and resource management skills. Closing this double gap is not only a matter of equity, but a strategic lever for the country's competitiveness and sustainable growth,” Ponti concludes.

A broad alliance for economic inclusion

Alongside Confindustria, ABI, Federcasse, Confcommercio and Federmeccanica have joined at national level, while at territorial level, Assolombarda, the Municipality of Milan and the main trade unions, among others, are participating.

The value of the initiative lies in its ability to bring together different actors - enterprises, institutions, credit and social partners - to structurally address the issue of women's economic autonomy turning access to financial services and employment into concrete levers of inclusion and growth.