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The Rise of Femtech and Why it’s Necessary
One of the trendy words lately that caught my eye is “Femtech”. Essentially, femtech companies direct their attention to solve the existing issues that the female population specifically faces, ranging anywhere from personal finance to healthcare. It’s easy to understand and appreciate the values female-oriented services or products such as Carrot and Lola can add in terms of providing options and flexibilities, but it wasn’t till recently that I realized the necessity of these options. Being my own individuals, I was biased to recognize the urgency and grasp the idea that — options are good to have when there are already plenty, but what we see more often is — femtech companies are providing the first option after a historical period of no option.
I have a private instructor who is 10 years older than me whom I’ve grown very close to over the course of last few months. A few weekends ago I went to her studio and felt something was off while we were catching up. She told me she wasn’t happy and she was in the middle of choosing between staying in her unhappy marriage or start all over again. I asked her what’s holding her back to end this relationship and realized the core of her struggle was financial. She had every courage to end this marriage but if she did, she would have to move out of their apartments which belongs to her husband, and as a private instructor, she doesn’t make enough to sustain her lifestyle. At the age of 32, she felt trapped.
What she told me immediately reminded me of my mom who, after I was born, quit her job to take care of me and relied on my dad entirely financially, which at times, could and have made her very vulnerable. Many initiatives have rolled out to address a gender-induced wage gap, however, we are certainly not quite there yet and for all the women that currently fall under this institutional issue, there is an urgent need for easy solutions such as financial planning tools and insurance options that are tailored to these women, because even daily consumer products come in different options, and believing that what works for one subset of population will automatically work for all is almost a form of suppression in itself. Back to my conversation with my instructor, in the end I suggested that maybe she should look into investing her money so she doesn’t have to rely solely on one…
