Let’s not pretend the ‘bad decisions’ of women are to blame for the gap in super balances
The gap between the retirement incomes of men and women will never be solved by information campaigns, decision-making tools or new websites.
Women earn around 17% less than men who perform similar work. Women are far more likely than men to take time out of the workforce early in their lives to raise children. Women are far more likely to take time out of the workforce to care for elderly parents. And women are far more likely than men to work part time in order to make their households work smoothly. All of these factors have a massive impact on the ability of women to accumulate retirement savings.
Australia is one of the richest countries in the world and we are at the richest point in world history. If we wanted to spend money to help boost the retirement incomes of women, or all retirees, we could do so.
Related documents
Between the Lines Newsletter
The biggest stories and the best analysis from the team at the Australia Institute, delivered to your inbox every fortnight.
You might also like
Gender parity closer after federal election but “sufficiently assertive” Liberal women are still outnumbered two to one
Now that the dust has settled on the 2025 federal election, what does it mean for the representation of women in Australian parliaments? In short, there has been a significant improvement at the national level. When we last wrote on this topic, the Australian Senate was majority female but only 40% of House of Representatives
Do you have $3 million in super? Me neither. These changes will actually help you
Labor’s planned reforms to superannuation tax concessions may be being reported as “controversial” but the fact is they are popular.
Analysis: Will 2025 be a good or bad year for women workers in Australia?
In 2024 we saw some welcome developments for working women, led by government reforms. Benefits from these changes will continue in 2025. However, this year, technological, social and political changes may challenge working women’s economic security and threaten progress towards gender equality at work Here’s our list of five areas we think will impact on