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

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 th...

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Main Authors: Preston, Alison, Jefferson, Therese
Format: Journal Article
Published: Routledge 2005
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29609
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author Preston, Alison
Jefferson, Therese
author_facet Preston, Alison
Jefferson, Therese
author_sort Preston, Alison
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description 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.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-296092017-09-13T15:53:34Z Australia's "Other" Gender Wage Gap: Baby Boomers and Compulsory Superannuation Accounts Preston, Alison Jefferson, Therese retirement Gender pensions wage gap superannuation aging 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. 2005 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29609 10.1080/13545700500115902 Routledge restricted
spellingShingle retirement
Gender
pensions
wage gap
superannuation
aging
Preston, Alison
Jefferson, Therese
Australia's "Other" Gender Wage Gap: Baby Boomers and Compulsory Superannuation Accounts
title Australia's "Other" Gender Wage Gap: Baby Boomers and Compulsory Superannuation Accounts
title_full Australia's "Other" Gender Wage Gap: Baby Boomers and Compulsory Superannuation Accounts
title_fullStr Australia's "Other" Gender Wage Gap: Baby Boomers and Compulsory Superannuation Accounts
title_full_unstemmed Australia's "Other" Gender Wage Gap: Baby Boomers and Compulsory Superannuation Accounts
title_short Australia's "Other" Gender Wage Gap: Baby Boomers and Compulsory Superannuation Accounts
title_sort australia's "other" gender wage gap: baby boomers and compulsory superannuation accounts
topic retirement
Gender
pensions
wage gap
superannuation
aging
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29609