Love, money, and our planet. These topics come up frequently in conversations with other women. Here’s some food for thought.

Have You Given Up on Ever Finding A Relationship?

Got stung on Bumble, burned on Tinder, or is the dating pool on Plenty of Fish too shallow? Finding romance is a tough task, especially as local demographics are apparently stacked against us. Data from the most recent (2016) Census shows more men in Hamilton have never married, but a greater number of women in the city are single, either as a result of divorce (and more markedly through being widowed).

If you’re really curious, the City of Hamilton has a map that plots areas where more men live vs women (though it doesn’t tell you anything more about them).

Despite the demographic odds, one local and divorced businesswoman (who’ll remain anonymous) was determined to find a partner. She went on 50 (yes, she counted) dates over two years before she found her beau. That’s just what you have to do, she said.

And while an estimated 70% of couples find each other online – with the stigma long vanished – some women have turned their back on matchmaking apps, fed up with sifting through profiles and listening to dates relating woeful stories about their exes. Many would rather find a relationship organically instead, through work, friends, or by chance.

Some simply prefer to stay single and enjoy their freedom — even if when pressed, they may admit to the occasional bout of loneliness. “It’s fine for 364 days of the year,” said one singleton, “it’s that one day that can get you down.”

And the other option, of course, is to get a dog. There’s currently 12 dog parks across the city (and you never know who you might meet…)

Money: Reframing Our Thinking That We’re No Good With Finances

When it comes to financial matters, Hamilton women are trailblazers – both in making and in giving their money. Here’s two stories that may inspire you to re-frame your relationship with your wallet.

Teresa Cascioli is a myth-buster when it comes to women and finances. She became CEO of Hamilton’s Lakeport Brewery, and took the company from bankrupt to public on the Toronto Stock Exchange, later selling it for $201 million to Labatt’s.

She tells how her immigrant parents worked hard to make a new life, always watching the nickels and dimes. Perhaps this alone made an impression on the young Teresa as she was growing up – or did the family conversations about money have the greatest impact on her career and financial leadership choices she made?

Meanwhile, the investment firm IPC Private Wealth painted a different picture in their recent report. They polled 400 affluent Canadian men and women, with at least $500,000 in investable assets and found that many women prefer to let the men in their lives handle their finances.

Another global study of more than 3,000 millennial women quoted participants as saying they found other responsibilities more urgent than investing and financial planning.

Yet again, Hamilton may not be typical.

One day back in 2012, Beth Webel’s daughter came home from high school with a story that changed everything. She told her mother that some girls in her class weren’t taking part in athletics because they couldn’t afford a sports bra.

That tipped Beth into action. She gathered ten others and founded Women for Change, a philanthropic fund set up to improve the lives of women and girls across Hamilton and to increase awareness of women as philanthropists and givers, separate from the men in their lives.

The group now has 60 members who donate $1500 a year ($500 for young professionals) to an endowment fund, under the care of the Hamilton Community Foundation.

Using original research, the interest generated goes towards programs that have the greatest impact on the lives of women and girls across our city – as well as creating leaders in philanthropy.

Past projects have included support for women and girls who experience violence, help for moms experiencing post-partum depression, and working to protect aging women in the community.

Are You Suffering from Climate Anxiety?

Sixteen-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg gave a chilling speech to international leaders when they met at Davos this past January.

“Adults keep saying, we owe it to the young people to give them hope,” she said. “But I don’t want you to be hopeful, I want you to panic.”

Climate change is constantly in the news, and a new kind of panic has a name: Climate Anxiety, worrying about the future. Are women more sensitive to this than men? This is apparently a topic for a large body of research.

According to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, although a similar proportion of men and women think global warming is happening, there are strong gender differences in the concern about the environment, specifically around fear for future generations.

But if you want to go beyond worrying and do something locally, check out Environment Hamilton (905-549-0900) for a wide range of climate action programs, everything from tree protection to transportation and clean air projects. The staff are also involved in Community Resilience to Extreme Weather, our city’s first Climate Resilience partnership with a local community, neighbourhood asset mapping and preparing residents to become climate extreme resilient.

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