Bendigo women in their 40s have half the super of men with the gender super gap first expanding when many local women take time out of the workforce to have children.
Unless commitments are made to bridge the gender super gap at this election Industry Super Australia is warning a generation of local mums could be at risk of retiring into poverty.
Bendigo women on the cusp of retirement have a median super balance of just $131,100 – a third less than the male median balance of $198,900
Local men and women usually start off with similar super balances – Bendigo women in their 20s have just 5% less super than men, but when a woman reaches her 30s the gender super gap jumps 22% and the median super balance of local women is $13,100 less super than men’s.
This divergence occurs when many women take time out of the paid workforce to raise children, but far too few are being paid super on parental leave meaning women’s savings falls behind.
Parental leave is the only type of paid leave that does not attract the super guarantee and the government does not pay super on its scheme.
Since 2011 up to 8,460 Bendigo mothers have missed out on $9.5 million in retirement contributions because super is not paid on the taxpayer-funded Commonwealth Parental Leave Pay scheme.
This super sting costs a local mother of two about $15,000 from her final retirement balance.
Overwhelmingly women access the paid parental leave scheme – 99.5% compared to just 0.5% of men.
The retirement income review found that the modest payment of super on Commonwealth paid parental leave – which is available to most working mothers and soon to be a maximum of 20 weeks paid at minimum wage – would be a positive step towards bridging the gender super gap.
A recent retirement survey, commissioned by ISA, found that on average women spend 12 years less in the full-time workforce than men, this time away from work is having a dramatic impact on their super balance.
One in three women retire with no super balance at all, according to a 2016 Senate report.
Comments attributable to Industry Super Australia advocacy director Georgia Brumby:
“Bendigo women are retiring with not enough super and it’s time to do something about it, starting with getting super paid on parental leave.”
“Adding super to the government parental leave scheme is a small investment that will help boost the retirement savings of local women, if we don’t fix this inequity local mums will have to pay the price for decades to come.”
“Working mums should not fall behind when having a baby, it’s time to end this financial penalty on pregnancy.”
Table 1: Median balances in the electorate of Bendigo in 2018-19
Age group | Male median balance | Female median balance | Gender super gap |
20-29 | $13,000 | $12,300 | 5% |
30-39 | $60,000 | $46,900 | 22% |
40-49 | $130,000 | $64,500 | 50% |
50-59 | $198,900 | $131,100 | 34% |
Bendigo all working ages* | $72,300 | $45,000 | 38% |
Victoria all working ages* | $62,500 | $47,000 | 25% |
Australia all working ages* | $66,900 | $49,300 | 26% |
* All working ages include ages 20 to 64. Source: Industry Super Australia analysis of ATO 2 percent sample file 2018-19.
Table 2: Bendigo and Victoria Commonwealth Parental Leave Pay applicants from January 2011 to June 2020:
Electorate | Female | Male | ||
Applicants | Lost super ($M) | Applicants | Lost Super ($M) | |
Bendigo | 8,460 | 9.5 | 50 | 0.1 |
Victoria | 378,830 | 424.3 | 1,700 | 1.9 |
Source: Industry Super Australia analysis of Department of Social Services data.
