It is widely known that the gender pay gap still exists, with women in the U.S. earning 80.4 percent of what men earned in the first quarter of 2020, but data suggests that the gap for women in the real estate investing industry is just as significant. Ahead of Women’s Equality Day on Aug. 26, Millionacres, a Motley Fool company surveyed more than 650 people about various types of diversity in the real estate investing world.
Key findings
- Men are more likely to buy REITs and women are more likely to own rental property.
- More than 1 in 4 women said that gender diversity is lacking or severely lacking in the real estate investing community.
- Almost 1 in 4 non-white respondents said that racial diversity is lacking or severely lacking in the real estate investing community.
- One-third of women feel that their gender affects their real estate investing opportunities and almost a quarter feel that it affects their returns.
- One-third of non-white respondents feel that their race affects their opportunities and just over one quarter feel that it affects their returns.
- Most respondents—37%—said they’re happy with the level of diversity in the real estate investing community.
- Most respondents were in favor of more early financial education for under-represented groups.
- Almost a third said that no action needs to be taken to improve diversity in the real estate investing community.
The full report, including other key data insights, can be found HERE.
