Money lessons for daughters in a country that still saves for sons

India’s middle class has mastered the art of EMI calculators but still struggles with equality calculators.

Walk into most Indian homes and you can see the difference. The son’s future is a spreadsheet of SIPs and plans. The daughter’s is a set of gold bangles and good intentions. Families plan for their sons’ ambitions but save for their daughters’ security. It is not malicious. It is just muscle memory.

Across generations, we have taught our daughters to be careful with money but not confident about it. We have praised them for saving, rarely for investing. Even today, a son taking an education loan is seen as ambitious. A daughter taking one is seen as risky.

The cultural code of saving

India has come a long way. More than 53% of Indian women now have bank accounts, and financial inclusion has nearly doubled in the past decade, according to the World Bank’s Findex report. Yet only one in three women participates in household investment decisions, and less than 16% invest independently in mutual funds or equities.

This is the quiet gender gap in our financial story. We have given women access to money but not authority over it. Inside many homes, fathers are the planners and mothers are the managers. Education funds are more likely to be earmarked for sons, while the daughters get “safe” savings—gold, insurance, or fixed deposits.

It is the way we have always done things. A son’s education is seen as an investment; a daughter’s is seen as an expense. But that formula belongs to another era. Today, the fastest-growing segment of entrepreneurs, professionals, and investors in India is female. Every time we plan differently for our daughters, we are not just limiting them, we are limiting the country.

A quiet financial revolution The good news is that the story is changing. Across several Tier II cities, there has been a steady rise in mothers taking the lead on long-term financial decisions for their

children. In places like Indore, Surat, and Nagpur, more than 60% of first-time education investors are now women. They are not waiting for approval. They are opening SIPs in their own names, learning how compounding works, and asking sharper questions about returns instead of only safety.

The National Family Health Survey shows that women’s ownership of savings accounts has jumped from 53% in 2016 to 78% in 2021. More women are contributing to household income across both urban and rural India. Financial inclusion is no longer just a government agenda. It is becoming a personal one.

This shift is subtle but significant. It often begins at the dinner table, not a policy office. A mother decides to buy mutual funds instead of gold. A daughter asks to study abroad, and her parents treat her loan like an investment, not a liability. A father includes his wife’s name on the family’s SIPs. These moments do not make headlines, but they will define the next chapter of India’s financial maturity.

The price of gendered money

When women invest, economies grow. McKinsey Global Institute estimates that improving gender equality could add $700 billion to India’s GDP by 2030. But equality starts much earlier, long before a job offer or a promotion. It starts at home, with how we save and who we trust with the family’s future.

When families save less for their daughters’ education, they shrink her choices and her confidence. The message she hears is not about money; it is about worth. A girl who grows up watching her mother depend financially often repeats that pattern. A girl who grows up watching her parents invest in her future learns that ambition is not gendered.

The next frontier: financial parenting

The next phase of India’s growth story will not come from more digital accounts or new fintech apps. It will come from parents who raise financially equal children.

Here is where it starts:

• Plan equally, not symbolically. When parents open SIPs or insurance plans, the numbers should not differ by gender. Education costs are similar for sons and daughters. So should be the investment.

• Talk about money openly. Let daughters hear conversations about salaries, EMIs, and market swings. Confidence comes from familiarity, not mystery.

• Redefine inheritance. Wealth is not a family secret to be passed quietly to sons. Modern families are starting to divide property and assets equally, and the results are healthier relationships and smarter money habits.

A future worth investing in

The future of Indian wealth will not be written only by founders and fund managers. It will also be written by mothers who invest in their daughters and by daughters who invest in themselves.

Gold may glitter, but compounding shines brighter.

When we teach our daughters to plan for their dreams instead of their dowries, India earns more than equality. It earns wisdom.

(The author is Co-founder, EduFund. Views are personal.)