Gender gaps in long-term earnings and retirement wealth: The effects of education and parenthood

We measure gender gaps in long-term earnings and retirement wealth over the 15-year period from 2001 to 2015. Our analysis of data from the Housing, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey generates new estimates of the effects of education on men’s and women’s long-term earnings. These show...

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Main Authors: Austen, Siobhan, Mavisakalyan, Astghik
Format: Journal Article
Published: Sage Publications 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/67513
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author Austen, Siobhan
Mavisakalyan, Astghik
author_facet Austen, Siobhan
Mavisakalyan, Astghik
author_sort Austen, Siobhan
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description We measure gender gaps in long-term earnings and retirement wealth over the 15-year period from 2001 to 2015. Our analysis of data from the Housing, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey generates new estimates of the effects of education on men’s and women’s long-term earnings. These show that whilst university qualifications improve women’s long-term earnings, university education does not, on average, lift women’s earnings above those attained by men with a high school qualification. The increment in long-term earnings associated with parenthood also shows a large gender gap favouring men. Parenthood is associated with higher long-term earnings for men but on average this factor has a strong negative association with women’s earnings. The article also maps the consequences of the gender gap in long-term earnings for retirement wealth in the form of superannuation. The results show how the large gender gaps in retirement wealth reflect in large part the economic costs arising from the gendered division of roles associated with parenthood in many Australian households.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-675132019-06-05T06:56:25Z Gender gaps in long-term earnings and retirement wealth: The effects of education and parenthood Austen, Siobhan Mavisakalyan, Astghik We measure gender gaps in long-term earnings and retirement wealth over the 15-year period from 2001 to 2015. Our analysis of data from the Housing, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey generates new estimates of the effects of education on men’s and women’s long-term earnings. These show that whilst university qualifications improve women’s long-term earnings, university education does not, on average, lift women’s earnings above those attained by men with a high school qualification. The increment in long-term earnings associated with parenthood also shows a large gender gap favouring men. Parenthood is associated with higher long-term earnings for men but on average this factor has a strong negative association with women’s earnings. The article also maps the consequences of the gender gap in long-term earnings for retirement wealth in the form of superannuation. The results show how the large gender gaps in retirement wealth reflect in large part the economic costs arising from the gendered division of roles associated with parenthood in many Australian households. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/67513 10.1177/0022185618767474 Sage Publications restricted
spellingShingle Austen, Siobhan
Mavisakalyan, Astghik
Gender gaps in long-term earnings and retirement wealth: The effects of education and parenthood
title Gender gaps in long-term earnings and retirement wealth: The effects of education and parenthood
title_full Gender gaps in long-term earnings and retirement wealth: The effects of education and parenthood
title_fullStr Gender gaps in long-term earnings and retirement wealth: The effects of education and parenthood
title_full_unstemmed Gender gaps in long-term earnings and retirement wealth: The effects of education and parenthood
title_short Gender gaps in long-term earnings and retirement wealth: The effects of education and parenthood
title_sort gender gaps in long-term earnings and retirement wealth: the effects of education and parenthood
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/67513