• Superannuation policy is gender blind, but by treating men and women the same it does not recognise that women’s lived experience of economic security is different to men. Through a gender lens, the Superannuation Guarantee system is fundamentally flawed because it is based on earnings. As long as women experience lower earnings and interrupted work patterns, the superannuation system will result in poorer outcomes for them.

• The average superannuation balance for women aged 60 to 64 is $157,050 which is 58% of the average balance of $270,710 held by men of the same age.

• Women are more likely than men to report having no superannuation: 33% compared to 27% of men. 45% of women aged between 65 and 69 have no superannuation, either because they have never had a superannuation account or because it has been fully drawn.

• Men hold 61.2% of the total pool of superannuation, with women holding 38.8%.

• The superannuation gap emerges early in a woman’s working life, with a superannuation gap of 20% between men and women aged 25 to 29; and continues to increase over a woman’s lifetime.

• The superannuation gap is connected to the gender pay gap, career interruptions, and the casualisation of work.

• Women are more likely to men to be reliant on the Age Pension, and women live longer than men.

 

READ FULL PAPER