Mars and Venus in bankruptcy court?

Perhaps.

If the sheer number of Americans filing for bankruptcy wasn't disturbing enough, statistical and anecdotal evidence points to more women unable to repay their debts than men.

A record 1.6 million Americans nationwide, and 12,884 in Greater Cincinnati, filed for bankruptcy in 2002.

An admittedly small and vastly unscientific survey of November filings in the Southern District of Ohio Bankruptcy Court found that almost two-thirds of the 685 filers were women.

A much broader and more scientific study conducted two years ago by SMR Research found the gap smaller - but still significant.

The New Jersey-based consulting firm ran some 42,692 bankruptcy filings from across the country through a database of first names, sorting them by gender.

The study found that 44.7 percent of the filers were men; 49.1 percent were women; and 6.2 percent were undetermined because of unisex or unusual first names.

"Still, that's a significant difference," said Stuart Feldstein, SMR president. "Females are slightly over-represented in bankruptcy court, as compared to their percentage of all adults."

Forget stereotypes

Shop-till-you-drop stereotypes aside, the reason for the statistical gap is probably not spending habits, said Mary Hurlburt, credit educator at Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Cincinnati.

"For every woman who did that (binge shopped), there'd be some man who bought himself a Harley," she said. "I hate that stereotype. ... I don't think that's it."

The culprit, she said, was partly in the income disparity between men and women, and that more women qualify for credit cards based on getting child support and welfare payments. Fewer low-income men get those payments, and thus don't qualify for as much credit.

Hurlburt also sees many more elderly women getting into financial trouble because they're typically low income and not financially savvy.

"They've never handled money before, and now they're widowed," she said. "They knew nothing."

Low pay contributes

SMR's Feldstein said women are also more likely in jobs where income can fluctuate and fall during hard economic times.

They don't spend extravagantly but find they can't pay one month what they paid the last month.

Still, he points to another cultural phenomenon behind the disparity: Simple male stubbornness.

More men associate their self-worth being the family breadwinner more so than women typically do, he said.

"There are roles that we play as males and females, probably less so now than 50 years ago," he said. "Bankruptcy is an admission of failure that men might be slightly more reluctant to do.

"It is sort of like admitting defeat on your primary objective."

Contact Amy Higgins at 768-8373; ahiggins@enquirer.com; or 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202. She cannot reply to all individual questions.