ECONOMIC SECURITY
Women outnumber men as graduates and yet earn less at every point in their working lives, eventually retiring with half the funds of their male contemporaries.
Chief Executive Women makes a valuable contribution to the national debate about how we achieve genuine equality between men and women in Australia.
There is undeniable evidence that we have a long way to go in Australia before financial equality for men and women is achieved. Women outnumber men as graduates at a ratio of 5:4, yet start out earning 90 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earn.
The pay gap widens over time, with an overall average pay differential of around 18%. It’s far worse in some industries – for example 30% in financial services – and often men are paid larger discretionary bonuses. Wealth accumulation for women is further slowed by career breaks and a lack of flexible work options on returning to the workforce, streaming women into roles that do not advance their careers. This culminates with women retiring, on average, with half the superannuation savings of men.
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