PYMNTS Intelligence’s 2024 Women’s Wellness Index explores the myriad factors impacting women’s health. The Women’s Wellness Index presents a comprehensive view of health outcomes by analyzing respondents’ reports of overall health, healthcare access, personal health spending and time dedicated to self-care. It also considers the resources needed to support women’s well-being.
As part of this research, we investigated whether women tended to prioritize the health of other members of their household or themselves, whether that had changed in the past three years and how that impacted their healthcare spending for themselves. In doing so, we found that nearly half of mothers are prioritizing their own health more. This is important because dedicating more resources in this way meant women scored 5% higher than average on our Index. Higher scores reflect better health outcomes.
In short, investing more in their own health pays dividends, the data suggests. And that can have a ripple effect, as this can also position these mothers to better care for their families.
Moms Make Their Own Health a Bigger Priority
In the past three years, many mothers have grown more empowered to embrace their own health goals. Data shows that 46% of mothers in nuclear families and 43% of single mothers emphasized their own well-being more in that time. This prioritization or emphasis can include focusing on their own health goals, spending more financial resources on their own health or devoting more time to self-care. As we will detail further in this edition, these moves are linked with better health outcomes.
Unfortunately, the opposite trend is also true: Deprioritizing health is linked to worse health outcomes. Twelve percent of moms in nuclear families and 14% of single moms deprioritized their own well-being in the last three years. Just 6.5% of cohabitating women with no children reported this change.
We focus on mothers here because women without children were less likely to note a change in their wellness priorities. Fifty-two percent of women who cohabitate with a partner without children reported no change to their wellness priorities. Approximately 2 in 5 focused more on their own health and well-being in the three-year span we measured. Compared to moms, roughly half as many cohabiting women with no kids lessened their health priorities. Overall, mothers’ shifting priorities led to more volatile health outcome trends — both positively and negatively.
What about fathers? Data shows that fathers are more likely than mothers to prioritize their own health after having kids. These findings could link to our previous analysis, where the data suggested that women shoulder more of the caregiving burden for households. Fifty-six percent of single fathers focused more on their own health in the last three years, as did 48% of cohabiting fathers.
Women Who Prioritize Their Own Health Average Better Health Outcomes
The Women’s Wellness Index synthesizes a variety of variables and indicators to measure health outcomes. Women who moved to prioritize their own health in the last three years scored 5% higher, suggesting their increased investment garners better health. Thus, mothers who put more intention into their wellness and their households reap the rewards.
Conversely, women who deprioritized their own health ended up with Index scores 17% lower than average. This is concerning, as mothers are twice as likely to have put their health on the back burner than women cohabitating with no children. These worse health outcomes could have implications for not only mothers but also those they care for.
Intentionality about health in recent years is protective of women’s health, even if mothers still place others’ health above their own. In short, for mothers to be in their best shape to care for others, they should also pour into themselves. That can involve investments in time, energy and — as discussed in detail below — money.
Women Who Prioritize Their Health Spend $263 More on Their Health Each Month
Women who prioritize their health spend $901 on it per month. This is $263 more than the women who did not change their health priorities. The data suggests that women who make a concerted effort to spend on their own wellness gain health benefits. Remember that prioritizing one’s own well-being is linked with better health outcomes.
Some could ask: Are women prioritizing their health and spending more because they are not as healthy? The findings show this is not the case. Women who reported having worse health in the last three years were actually less likely to have prioritized their health than their counterparts whose health and well-being had improved. Eighteen percent of women who said they had worse health in the last three years deprioritized their health in that time. In doing so, this group of women spent $720 on wellness monthly. That figure exceeds the amount for women who did not change their health priorities, but it likely reflects the greater medical expenses that can come with worse health rather than a more proactive, efficient use of funds.
All in all, the findings highlight that increased proactive health spending would benefit moms — and those who rely on them.
Conclusion
The Women’s Wellness Index finds that many moms emphasized their own health and well-being more in the last three years. Doing so is linked to better health outcomes, showing that empowering mothers to embrace their wellness pays off. Women who prioritize their own wellness and health spend $263 more than average women on their health — and their investment pays off. Intentionality about their own health is the key for mothers to have better health outcomes. Overall, women who make a clear effort to budget for their own wellness reap the reward: improved health.
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Methodology
The 2024 Women’s Wellness Index: Women’s Life Stage Priorities in Health and Wellness, a collaboration between PYMNTS Intelligence and CareCredit, a Synchrony solution, is based on a survey of 10,045 U.S. consumers conducted from Nov. 10, 2023, to Dec. 6, 2023. The survey explored how women’s finances, time and social context impact their overall health and well-being. Our sample was census-balanced across key demographic variables. The average respondent was 48 years old, 51% identified as women, 33% had college degrees and 38% reported incomes of $100,000 or more per year.
