Ever since Yang Yue got married six years ago, she has kept her husband, Liang Xiaoming, on a short financial leash, giving him about 2,500 yuan ($393) a month for his own personal use.

Yang feels that her husband "is not good with money." Prior to her intervention, he had no savings, even though he had been working for years before they wed and he had no clue what he was spending his money on.

Yang, a 32-year-old native of Shanghai, is the polar opposite of Liang. She keeps a detailed record of their spending, down to the last cent, and set up a household budget. "I always make sure to save nearly a third of our income a year," Yang told ChinAfrica. "I also spend approximately 25 percent of the family income on investing in financial services, in addition to mortgage payments."

Since Yang has managed the household finances, they have never exceeded the family budget. With the money left over, the couple have begun to use the extra cash to fund their children's education, to travel and purchase large home appliances. Yang also makes sure that the family's savings increase steadily each year.

Yang is not alone. She is among the majority of Chinese women who have been making financial decisions for the family.

Female trendsetters

Compared with their counterparts overseas, Chinese women are taking the lead in financial planning for their families, according to the latest survey by HSBC Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Sixty-three percent of Chinese women said that they make the major financial decisions for their families.

However, in other parts of the world, only 53 percent of women said that they were in charge of household financing, according to the survey, which involved more than 17,000 interviewees in 17 countries.  

The survey indicates the greater equality in financial decision-making in Chinese families, as Chinese women are playing more important roles in this regard, according to Li Jing, a female sociologist at Central China Normal University.

A Chinese proverb says, "Men are the bread-winner and women are the housekeeper." Li said that this statement suggests that men need to go out to work, leaving their wives to take responsibility for everything to do with the home, including the family's finances.

For decades, males and females have contributed equally to the family income. Also, an increasing number of women today are financially independent than ever before. 

Besides, Chinese women show more of a willingness to, and are more capable of, managing the household budget than men, due to their enhanced education and career advancement, she added.