--Australian expat women are smart, adventurous and hard working
--One Australian resident leaves Australia to live overseas every 1 minute and 49 seconds
As the world celebrates International Women's Day, Atlas Wealth Management takes a look at who an Australian expat woman is, where they live, and their motivations for moving overseas.
With one Australian resident leaving Australia to live overseas every 1 minute and 49 seconds[1] the Australian diaspora would fill Canberra, Wollongong, Hobart and Darwin.
The Face of a Female Australian Expat
Atlas Wealth Management's 2018 Expat Insights Survey shows that the previously conceived idea of who an Australian female living overseas was couldn't be further from the truth.
They are smart, hardworking and adventurous. This is far removed from the antiquated view that all expat women are trailing spouses.
In fact, only 10% of respondents indicated that they have taken on the role as an expat housewife.
Education
Australian women living overseas are highly educated.
60% hold either a bachelor's degree (30% of respondents) or a post graduate degree (30% of respondents.
Motivation
There is a myriad of reasons why people move overseas, and Australian women are no different.
The most popular response was to find a new challenge (24%).
Relationships also played a deciding factor too with 19% responding that they moved overseas because their partner was a foreign citizen and 16% moved because their partner accepted a job overseas.
Destination
The United States is the most popular country for Australian women to live (25.84% of respondents).
The remaining top 4 countries include the United Kingdom (16.47%), Canada (6.37%), France (4.21%) and the United Arab Emirates (3.97%).
Australian women are a well-travelled group as responses were received from expats in 57 countries.
Employment
Over 50% of Australian women overseas work in either a full-time capacity (45%) or are self employed (12%).
When asked about their career prospects 23% of female respondents said that there was the potential to earn more than Australia and 15% said that it was easier to progress their career.
Job Sectors
The Education industry was the most popular sector for working expat women with 22%.
This was followed by the Health sector (12%) and the Hospitality & Travel sector (9%).
Australia expat women work in a wide variety of jobs and responses were counted from 24 different sectors.
Financial Planning Tips for Australian Expat Women
With a relocation overseas comes the opportunity to earn and save more. In the 2018 Expat Insights survey 41% of female respondents said that they were able to save more and 46% said that they had more disposable income. Here are the top 3 tips for expat women to make the most of the move:
1.Budget before moving -- when moving to a new country where people will have a higher disposal income than living in Australia make sure the lifestyle doesn't adjust to the new salary.
2.Seek advice -- the rules and regulations surrounding expats are rapidly changing. Work out how a move overseas may affect oneself financially BEFORE jumping on a plane as changes cannot be made after the fact.
3.Make sure to have something to show for the time away -- a lot of expats move overseas and have great photos and stories to tell about their adventures, but their bank balance is either the same or worse on their return. Ensure to save whilst away because more than likely people won't be receiving superannuation payments from the employer which means people aren't putting away 9.5% of their salary.
[1] Australian Bureau of Statistics Population Clock -
