Australia's "Other" Gender Wage Gap: Baby Boomers and Compulsory Superannuation Accounts

Abstract

Government budgetary pressures and demographic trends have made retirement income policy a priority in developed economies. One option for policy reform is to increase private saving. In Australia, legislation requiring compulsory employer payments for the purposes of retirement savings addresses this option. This system poses particular difficulties for women who have broken patterns of paid employment and relatively low wages. When simulations that project likely employment participation and retirement outcomes incorporate a gendered approach and focus on the ''baby boomer'' cohort, the results highlight the low probability that women will accumulate adequate independent private retirement income. Over their lifetimes, Australian women baby boomers will spend around 35 percent less time in paid employment than their male counterparts. The projected average gender gap in compulsory accumulations is of a similarly large magnitude. The results emphasize the continuing need for publicly financed redistribution schemes, such as the Australian age pension.