A brief history of US women's financial rights
Until 1848, married women in the US were not allowed to own property. Any property a woman owned became the property of her husband once she married. Same for any property that she might inherit during the marriage. The state of New York was the first to pass laws protecting married women's ability to own real estate by themselves. Most other US states adopted this law, or a very similar one, by 1900. (Yeah. It took them over 50 years.)
Until 1963, women in the US had no legal protections insuring that employers pay women an equal amount for doing a job that a man was doing. Once the Equal Pay Act passed, more women who were in the workforce could build their own wealth through having and using basic bank accounts, and had the ability to be customers for financial products. Women could open bank accounts before this point - but often only as "Mrs. Someone", not as themself.
Until 1974, women in the US could not apply for a credit card or get a home loan. Even if a bank would lend to a woman before 1974, the women were often charged higher interest rates than men - the thinking being, women are a bigger credit risk since they would leave the workforce earlier to take care of children, banks had to protect their investment SOMEHOW. Then in 1974, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act was passed, and banks could not require that a woman have a man as a co-signer on any account or financial product. (Some of the goatwanking control freaks probably STILL kept charging women higher interest rates, though.)
Until 1988, women could not apply for a business loan without - you guessed it - a male cosigner. Ronald Reagan (yes, that guy - proof that the most noxious boil of a human being can occasionally luck into doing something positive) signed the Women's Business Ownership Act, creating government support for women-owned businesses. Before this point, women had to get a male relative to co-sign any business loan.
But let's look at the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. That gives women the access to credit, which can sometimes be as important as having your own cash because it builds a credit history which can be used to prove to other banks that you're a stable credit risk, that lending money to you is highly likely to be repaid*. This landmark was what let women get mortgages =in their own name=. That lets women buy their own house - if they can afford it - which, in that time and place, set women up for a bit more stability than being a renter and gave women the huge financial equity that a house confers. (Now very few individuals can afford to buy houses in the US unless they come from wealth. But I digress.)
The US has only had widespread female financial emancipation and equal financial rights for two human generations. Fifty years. I was in kindergarten before my mom or any of her three sisters could have gotten a mortgage in their own name.
Ladies and female-appearing enbys, know your worth and know how to handle money. Don't settle for substandard pay. Unionize wherever possible. And for fuckssake, always have your own checking and savings account...and at least one credit card that you pay off every month. Also - when possible - have enough cash on hand to get yourself and your dependents to safety if things go kerflooey.
Credit scores now actually reflect more of how much interest you generate for lenders...who can all go gargle a golf ball.
