Bianca Hartge-Hazelman

Key points

• Progress to gender equality stalled in the June quarter of 2024 with the FWX slipping by 0.2 points to 77.5 points out of a score of 100.
• A record improvement for the Gender Pay Gap and a steady result for ASX 200 Board Leadership helped to offset much of the weakness in Employment and the Underemployment Rate.
• Overall, the Index is tracking 2 points higher for the year to date and shows a long-term trend in progress towards gender financial equality.
• As we look at the progress towards gender financial equality, it’s interesting to note that whilst gender norms remain challenging in the workforce, and indeed a major barrier to closing gender gaps, women’s sport provides us with good reason for optimism as evidenced most recently by the Paris Olympics.
• FWX Timeframes to gender equality include a best case 5.2 years for ASX 200 Board Leadership, 17.7 years in Superannuation, 20.2 years in Underemployment, 22.6 years in the Gender Pay Gap (as the median timeframe to gender equality) and 24.6 years in Employment, 45.5 years in Unpaid Work and, a very pessimistic, 389.2 years in Education.

Australia’s progress toward gender financial equality slows in the June quarter

Australia needs to do more to challenge outdated gender norms, which continue to contribute to a “two steps forward, one step back” rate of progress on gender financial equality, according to the latest Financy Women’s Index (FWX).

The FWX, which tracks timeframes to economic equality every quarter, slipped to 77.5 points in the June quarter of 2024, down by 0.2 points from a revised 77.7 points in March. Despite the decline, the Index has improved over the past 12 months, gaining 2.36 points from 74.8 points in June 2023.

Financy founder and CEO Bianca Hartge-Hazelman notes that despite the gains women are making in the labour market participation and on the sporting field as evidenced by the Paris Olympics, persistent gender norms are still holding back female progress relative to men.

“Similar to what we saw during the Coronavirus pandemic, women are once again bearing the brunt of economic uncertainty largely because they still tend to occupy more flexible and insecure forms of employment, such as part-time and casual roles,” Ms. Hartge-Hazelman says.

“As business conditions weaken, these roles are more likely to be adjusted, with hours reduced to the detriment of the female workforce.”

Natalie Previtera CEO of NGS Super, notes that there is no way to achieve equality without women continuing to take up the mantle of visible leadership – on the field, in the boardroom, in financial and executive roles.

“It’s important to have a voice and lead the charge from the front. As we’ve seen with the Matildas and our female Olympians, women’s success in their chosen field has the power to inspire a nation.”

Dr Shane Oliver, Chief Economist at AMP says the areas desperately requiring improvement include the lower paying career choices young women make when they start their tertiary education relative to men and the ongoing discrepancy in unpaid work around the home.

“Both require attitudinal change,” he says. “Ideally this should start with what we tell our young girls (that they can do whatever they want, and certain jobs pay a lot more than others) and young boys (that girls are their equal, they should expect to share the load around the home and their gender equity benefits all of us).”

The headline FWX score for the June quarter was buoyed by a record-breaking improvement in the national gender pay gap, which fell to 11.5% in May as reported in August. This improvement, reflecting increased wages for early childhood educators and aged care workers, helped lift the FWX Gender Pay Gap sub-index to 88.5 points, up from 88 points in March.

However, this progress was overshadowed by setbacks in employment outcomes for women relative to men, particularly in monthly hours worked and underemployment. The FWX Employment sub-index, which reflects the gender gap in monthly hours worked, fell to 75.4 points, down from 75.6 in March, as female hours declined by 0.3%, compared to a 0.1% decline for men.

The FWX Underemployment sub-index also worsened in the June quarter, dropping to 71.2 points from 72.2 in March. The female underemployment rate increased by one percentage point to 7.71%, while the male rate improved, dropping by 6 percentage points to 5.22%.

Looking ahead: timeframes to Ggender equality

Australia’s path to gender equality remains long, with the FWX highlighting varying timeframes across key indicators.

• ASX 200 Board leadership: Gender equality is expected by 2030, with a current wait time of 5.2 years, down from 5.7 years 12 months ago.
• Gender pay gap: Equality is expected by 2047 with a 22.6 years wait to close this gap, an improvement from 24.3 years in June 2023.
• Superannuation: Equality is expected by 2042 with a wait of 17.7-years. New data is awaited to update these figures.
• Underemployment rate: Equality is expected by 2024 with a 20.2-year wait.
• Employment: Equality is expected by 2049 with a 24.6-year wait.
• Unpaid Work: Equality is expected by 2070 with a 45.5 year wait.
• Education: Equality is expected by 2414 with little progress being made and a troubling wait of 389.2 years^[1].

“As a general reflection, it’s incredibly frustrating that we see these great moments, such as in sport, at the same time we see the repetition of entrenched norms that see women bear the burden of tougher economic times,” says Nicki Hutley, consulting economist.

“But one must continue to hope that the big moments will change the norms, so the everyday standards improve.”

While Australia has made significant strides in closing the gender pay gap, more work is needed to address the persistent gender norms that continue to hold back progress in other areas. As economic conditions remain uncertain, it is crucial that policymakers and businesses prioritize gender equality in all aspects of the labour market to ensure sustained progress.

Ms. Hartge-Hazelman remains cautiously optimistic, citing the success of Australian women in the Paris Olympics as a positive sign.

“These wins are impressive, and they help to shift the narrative and gender norms over the longer term, which we believe should, in turn, drive greater progress across all of our indicators,” she says.

Read the report.

——–

Notes:
[1] Source: Financy Sept 2024

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Bianca Hartge-Hazelman

Progress to economic equality in Australia rebounded in the March quarter following the worst annual setback in a decade but has been accompanied by a sudden increase in gender-based violence.

The latest Financy Women’s Index (FWX) gained 2 points (2.7%) to 78.3 points in the March quarter of 2024 and is now 3.66 points higher than where it stood in March 2023.

Financy founder Bianca Hartge-Hazelman says while the progress in financial equality is encouraging, the rise in domestic violence over the same period is deeply concerning.

“Over the past ten years there has been a positive correlation between economic equality progress and declining gender-based violence^[1]; however recently this correlation has started to show signs of decoupling.

“Whilst the long-term trend in both gender financial equality progress and gender-based violence is one of improvement over the last decade, the alarming surge in female deaths this year is of significant national concern.

“It is too early to know if this trend will continue, but if we continue to see this many tragedies (43 women killed this year already) then it will undermine economic progress and equality for women,” she says.

Ms Hartge-Hazelman added that the main drivers of the improvement in the Index were employment and underemployment. 

“The rising cost of living pressures coupled with improved flexible work opportunities are two significant factors helping to drive the growth in female employment,” Ms she says.

The FWX Employment sub-index shows an improved score to 75.2 points out of 100 in the March quarter as women increased their number of monthly hours worked by 2.6% compared to 1.4% for men.

The capacity of women to engage in paid work, as measured by the available working-age population numbers and monthly hours worked, has improved to 65% from 63% compared to 86% for men, up from 85%.

The FWX Underemployment sub-index moved up by 0.88 points to 71.8 points in the March quarter, as female underemployment improved at a faster pace than male underemployment deteriorated.

Despite commendable progress, the fact remains that gender equality advancement is happening at a painfully slow pace and the impact of the 2023 setback has been very disheartening.

“Every step forward in the Financy Women’s Index is welcomed,” says Nicki Hutley, independent economist. “But a truly gender-inclusive society will need both faster and broader progress, including in areas of social inequality and, as this quarter’s report points out, for gender-based violence and societal attitudes more broadly.”



Also speaking on the subject, Dr Leonora Risse of the University of Canberra says that “While we are making strides in women’s economic progress, we are also encountering retaliation and resistance that pushes us in the other direction.

“This all points to a drastically missing piece in our approach to gender equality: if we are going to economically empower women, we need to nurture a society that is not afraid of women being empowered,” says Dr Risse.

Dr Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP, says that the rebound in reported violence towards women reminds us that “we can’t simply assume that rising financial equality will necessarily translate to falling gender-based violence. In fact, there could be perverse effect where it may increase it, if some men feel they are being left behind.

“At the very least this shows the need to highlight that women’s financial equality is good for both women and men. Men need to be brought along the journey too,” says Dr Oliver.

Timeframes to economic equality

The best performing area of the Financy Women’s Index in the March quarter with the smallest time frame to achieving gender equality is in ASX 200 Board Leadership with a 5.6 year wait, compared to 17.7 years in Superannuation, 19.9 years in Underemployment, 23.3 years in the Gender Pay Gap (as the median timeframe to gender equality) and 25.6 years in Employment, 45.5 years in Unpaid Work and 389.2 years in Education.

———

Notes:
[1] As measured by intimate partner homicides of a woman by a male.

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Bianca Hartge-Hazelman

Key results

• The Financy Women’s Index (FWX) finished 2021 up 1.6% to 72.3 points with women’s financial progress and time to economic equality better than expected.
• The key drivers of the FWX in 2021 included the closing of the gender gaps in employment, ASX 200 board positions and
  unpaid work.
• However there was a 2.2% drop in the Index during the December quarter, weighed down by a worsening gender pay gap.
• The timeframe to economic gender equality now stands at 59 years, down from a revised 76 years based on the worst performing area – unpaid work.

There are signs that the Coronavirus pandemic is creating a structural shift in gender equality as pressure eases on some of the key barriers to women’s financial progress in 2021, the Financy Women’s Index shows.

Bianca Hartge-Hazelman, author of the Financy Women’s Index, said that 2022 presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Australia to consolidate the gains of 2021 towards economic equality for women.

The FWX finished 1.6% higher at 72.3 points compared to 71.2 points in December 2020, aided by a closing of the gender gaps in employment, ASX 200 board positions and unpaid work.

It will now take 59 years to achieve financial gender equality in Australia, down from a revised 76 years in 2020, based on the worst performing area of progress – unpaid work.

Data suggests that more flexible work arrangements and better division of unpaid labour has enabled women to spend less time on unpaid work overall, whilst men are spending slightly more of their overall time in this area.

“The significant reduction in the timeframes to equality has surprised the FWX Advisory Board because we expected that the unpaid workloads of women had probably increased as a result of home-schooling and working from home during the lockdowns,” said Ms Hartge-Hazelman.

“But in fact, women appear to have been working more than ever in paid employment, although for less financial reward than men.

“While it is encouraging to see a greater balance in paid and unpaid work between women and men, if this is to be a long-term a structural shift then it is vital that we also see female workforce earnings keep up, especially in those hard-hit services areas like Health,” said Mrs Hartge-Hazelman.

This quarter, the Financy Women’s Index sheds some light on one of the big questions to have emerged during COVID-19 – who bore the brunt of the unpaid work?

“The unpaid work index remains one the most important indicators of women’s progress, with the division of domestic tasks so closely tied to gender norms,” said Rhiannon Yetsenga, economist at Deloitte Access Economics.

“The pandemic and associated lockdowns have shown a path towards greater gender equality through more flexible working, but further cultural and structural change is required if we want to enable progress beyond the modest improvements seen this quarter,” said Ms Yetsenga.

Despite the annual FWX improvement, a disappointing December quarter weighed on the result, with a 2.2% drop driven by a widening in the gender pay gap (14.2%).

This was the only area of the Index which failed to improve over the year.

It acted as a drag on the annual rate of progress towards women’s economic equality, bringing it to about half of that recorded for the 2020 calendar year (1.6% versus 3%.)

“It’s frustrating to learn that, despite living in a wealthy, well-educated society in the 21st century, the Financy Women’s Index estimates it will take close to 22 years to close the gender pay gap,” said Effie Zahos, independent director InvestSMART.

“Right now, Australia is facing a skills shortage, and there may never be a better time for women to exercise their workplace clout and be paid what they are worth,” said Ms Zahos.

Among the other key findings on women’s economic progress:

• the gender gap in underemployment is now the smallest it has ever been, reflecting that strong labour market conditions combined with greater work flexibility during the pandemic has improved employment opportunities for Australian women.
• there was also an improvement in the number of monthly hours worked by women (6% gain versus a 5% gain for men in the December quarter).
• the number of women on ASX 200 boards increased over the latest quarter to 34.5%, as of January 31, according to the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Nicki Hutley independent economist said she is “optimistic” that changes in the unpaid work balance will stick after the pandemic passes.

“There is still a lot of work to do and it’s concerning that some areas have worsened, especially the gap in graduate salaries. A gap right from the start tends to expand over the years and sets up a lifetime of inequality,” she said.

The remaining sub-indices of the Women’s Index such as Superannuation and Education will be updated in the March quarter of 2022.

Dr Shane Oliver, chief economist AMP said Australia needs to work harder on to getting gender equality right.

“The pandemic and associated lockdowns have shown a path towards greater gender equality through more flexible working – the key is for business, governments and workers to grasp the opportunity and push forward long after we leave the pandemic behind,” said Dr Oliver.

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Bianca Hartge-Hazelman

Key results

• The timeframe to economic equality is unchanged at a revised 32 years in September quarter.
• Women’s financial progress improved in the September quarter despite early setback of female job cuts in response to COVID-19 impacts.
• Progress was helped by a rebound in female employment relative to male, more women on boards and a further narrowing of the gender gap in the underemployment rate.
• The Financy Women’s Index rose by 2.2% to 74.1 points in the September quarter from a revised 73.3 points in June.

Australian women are recovering from the early financial impacts of COVID-19 at a faster rate than men, the latest Financy Women’s Index shows.  This is despite women facing numerous gender financial inequalities and an early setback in job cuts relative to men at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

The Financy Women’s Index rose by 2.2% to 74.1 points in the September quarter from a revised 73.3 points in June – this is about half the pace of progress recorded in the June quarter at by 4.2%.

Improved female jobs growth, which was harder hit compared to male by the onset of the pandemic and government shutdowns in March of this year, coupled with a fresh high in female ASX 200 board appointments and a narrowing of the gender gap in the underemployment rate, helped to push women’s progress higher in the September quarter.

“Whilst this result gives us more reason to feel optimistic as we approach the end of 2020, the situation remains volatile and time will tell if COVID-19 has short or long-term impacts on women’s progress and economic equality,” says Bianca Hartge-Hazelman, author of the Financy Women’s Index report.

“Despite the progress Australian women remain in a more financially insecure position relative to men and continue to face gender gaps across all but one of the financial indicators measured by the Financy Women’s Index.”

Ms Nicki Hutley, Partner at Deloitte Access Economics, says there can be no doubt that COVID-19 has placed greater burdens on women in myriad ways.

“The silver lining, if it can be called that, was the brief period of free childcare.

“It was a massively missed opportunity for the Federal Government not to introduce this support on a permanent basis and generate significant long-term increases in female participation and economic growth.

“However things play out from here, COVID-19 will leave two legacies for women. The first lies in the direct impact on women as workers, often casual, in the most vulnerable sectors, and as primary carers.

 “The second, and more important legacy will be the policies implemented to address those imbalances to ensure when the next shock occurs – be it another virus, extreme weather disruptions or financial sector driven – women do not again bear a disproportionate burden,” says Ms Hutley.

The timeframe to Australia achieving economic equality is unchanged at a revised 32 years because of the significant gender gap in the worst performing indicator which is unpaid work.

The number of women with ASX 200 board positions has increased in 2020 with women now occupying 32.1% of board positions as of the end of October , which is up from 31.2% in the June quarter. The result is nearly triple the rate of progress (2.6 percentage points or ppt) in the 12 months to September 2019 (1ppt).

The improvement comes despite a drop in the number of women occupying key leadership positions, including as CEO of public companies.

“As long as women do not progress within the management ranks we won’t just have a gender pay gap we’ll have a salary chasm,” says Connie Mckeage, Managing Director of Strategic Advantage and founder of OneVue. 

According to Labour Force data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Arts and Recreation Services and Accommodation and Food Services
both hired 19% more women across their workforces in the quarter. 

Younger women, aged 15-24 years who, along with older women, were hardest hit by job losses at the start of the pandemic have been largely left out of the partial recovery in female employment.

The female underemployment rate declined by 4ppt to 12.46% in September, compared to 12.93% in June and a high of 15.37% in April. Prior to the COVID-19 restrictions introduced in March, the female underemployment rate had stayed in the low double-digits since April 2014 and throughout that time has been about double the male underemployment rate.

The recovery in female employment coupled with higher male early access to super withdrawals could possibly help the gender gap in superannuation to narrow from 31% in favour of men.

The gender gap in unpaid work, calculated from the latest data obtained prior to the pandemic, shows women in relationships, with or without children, were doing 60% more unpaid tasks than men. This disparity is widely considered a significant barrier to increased female work participation and therefore financial progress. 

The gender pay gap stands at 14% in the September quarter, which is slightly higher than the 13.9% reported in the March quarter of this year.

The gender gap in non-school education is undergoing a shift for the first time in decades with male enrolment growth outpacing that of female.

The number of women aged 15-64 years completing a non-school qualification at Certificate III level or above such as a University Degree, fell by 7% or 86,000 female enrolments to 1.105 million in the 12 months to May of this year – reflecting the largest decline in at least 20 years, according to ABS figures on Education and Work.

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Bianca Hartge-Hazelman

The Coronavirus pandemic has prolonged the timeframe for achieving economic gender equality in Australia to 36 years due to a decline in female workforce participation in the June quarter.

The Financy Women’s Index shows that in just four months of the COVID-19 health crisis, four years had been added to the estimated time it will take to achieve economic equality. During the period, the gap between the number of men and women in full-time employment has widened.

“As the Financy Women’s Index shows, COVID-19 has only exacerbated the divide between men and women in paid and unpaid work,” says Nicki Hutley, Partner at Deloitte Access Economics. “Even if we return to the path of improvement seen before the pandemic, we remain a full generation away from achieving equality.”

The Financy Women’s Index improved in the June quarter (up 2.4 points, or 3.3%, to 73.7 points) but this was largely as result of male employment conditions worsening at a faster rate than female.

The June quarter result provides an indication of what’s happened to women’s financial progress in light of COVID-19 by looking at the performance of women compared to men across education, employment, participation, underemployment, wages, unpaid work, ASX 200 boards and superannuation.

“Unfortunately, the June quarter’s Financy Women’s Index isn’t one to celebrate because, while there was some good news in terms of the number of women on ASX 200 boards, overall we have seen female progress get dragged down in paid work,” says Bianca Hartge-Hazelman, Founder of The Financy Women’s Index.

“The one area where positive progress has occurred is in the number of women in ASX 200 board positions, which increased to 31.3% in the June period, up from 30.7% in March, according to data company OpenDirector.com.au.”

The biggest change to the Index during the June quarter was in the underemployment rate, with the gender gap narrowing by 17.2 points as male underemployment rose more sharply than female.

The Index was also affected by a 1 point widening of the gender gap in the participation rate and a 0.8 point increase in the gender gap in full-time employment.

In terms of job cuts in the June quarter, the most significant were in female dominated sectors such as Accommodation and Food Services and Arts and Recreation.

“The volume of cuts to full-time female job in 2020 has reversed two years of female employment growth and has derailed a multi-decade trend which saw female workforce participation steadily expand,” says Ms Hartge-Hazelman.

The gender pay gap^[1], measured by average full-time weekly wages, widened slightly to 14% in May as reported in August, up from 13.9% at the start of the year.

The industries where the gender pay gap widened the most were Mining, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services and Accommodation and Food Services.

Financial and Insurance services, Health and Professional, Scientific and Technical Services still have the biggest gender pay differences of any sectors with gaps around 22%.

Connie Mckeage, CEO of OneVue, says given the impact of the pandemic on Australians, business leaders need to be mindful that it’s not just financial progress that is suffering.

“We need to ensure that inputs such as mental health get as much focus as financial outcomes,” she said. “Any man or woman suffering from mental health issues hurts productivity so let’s make sure that we are not turning a blind eye to the uncomfortable so we can give every man and woman to ability to perform at their best regardless of the circumstances.”

Other Services, which includes personal and professional services, religious, civic, maintenance and private household employment, has become the only sector where the gender pay gap has been reversed and women are paid more than men on average.

Ms Hartge-Hazelman said equality has also been achieved in formal higher education and vocational studies.

“Despite this, gender stereotypes persist in traditionally female dominated areas such as Health and Education. Women also continue to dominate fields of study which have lower pay outcomes to many male dominated areas.

“That said, the second highest paying sector for women – Information and Technology – is the fastest growing of any field of study, followed by Natural and Physical Sciences and Architecture and Building. This would suggest that gender norms are starting to shift and it could have an impact on pay outcomes in younger generations of women.”

While the official gender gap in superannuation remains unchanged at this point, data provided by Australia’s largest superannuation fund, AustralianSuper, shows that the average gender gap in the retirement savings of its members widened to 26% in June compared to 25% at the start of this year.

Ms Hartge-Hazelman said that figures highlighted by the June Index also suggest that the gender gap in unpaid work is likely to widen further.

“The gender gap in unpaid work shows that in normal times, women in relationships are doing 60% more than men. This disparity is widely considered a significant barrier to increased female work participation and therefore financial progress.”

Key results

• The timeframe to economic equality in Australia has blown out to 36 years, up from 32 years.
• The Financy Women’s Index rose by 2.4 points in the June quarter to a revised 73.7 points but largely as a result of male underemployment conditions deteriorating faster than female.
• The Index was helped by an increase in the number of women on ASX 200 boards which rose to 31.3%.
• The Index was held back by gender gaps widening in the participation rate, full-time employment numbers and the gender pay gap.

———

[1] All gender pay gap data has been revised to take into account a recent change by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in reporting Seasonally Adjusted numbers instead of the usual Trend because of the pandemic.

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Bianca Hartge-Hazelman

Australian women are well over a generation away from achieving financial equality with the latest Financy Women’s Index* showing that progress has slowed over the past financial year despite a record narrowing of the superannuation gender gap.

The Women’s Index rose 0.5 points to 123.9 points in the June quarter, from a revised 123.4 points in the March quarter of 2019.

While women’s economic progress has improved 5 points over the 2018-19 financial year, it’s less than the 7.5 point gain recorded in the 2017-18 financial year when the score rose to 118.9 points from 111.4 points.

“It’s disappointing to see that despite greater awareness around gender equality, progress slowed over the past financial year, reflecting the weakest start to a calendar year since 2017, when the Index was first launched,” said Financy Women’s Index founder Bianca Hartge-Hazelman.

Key results Financy Women’s Index June Quarter

• The Financy Women’s Index rose 0.5 points to 123.9 points in the June quarter, from a revised 123.4 points in the March quarter of 2019.
• A moderation in female full-time employment and little improvement in female board appointments affected the score.
• Record improvements in the superannuation gender gap helped progress.
• Australian women are 45 years from achieving economic equality.

Overall, when the annual pace of progress recorded by the Financy Women’s Index is compounded and compared to the revised (FWX) Progress Target of 172 points, it shows that on the basis of current trends, Australian women are 45 years from achieving economic equality.

The FWX Progress Target is an aspirational guide on economic equality and is calculated by benchmarking women against men from data collected in 2012,
which is the baseline for this Report.

“It is pleasing to see progress being made on the Financy Women’s Index in the June quarter, albeit slowly,” said Deloitte Partner Nicki Hutley.

“However, as the mother of three girls, the thought that genuine economic equality is well over a generation away is disheartening. I would like to see further efforts on the part of policy makers and organisations to see greater strides made more rapidly,” she said.

Unlike previous quarters, the biggest factors that held back women’s economic progress in the June period included a moderation in female full-time employment growth and a lack of action by Corporate Australia to improve the representation of women on the boards of the top 200 listed companies.

Women occupied 29.7% of ASX 200 board positions in June, which is exactly where it was in December 2018.

“The numbers don’t lie,” said OneVue Group CEO Connie Mckeage. “We have seen one of the slowest quarters of progress and we have to ask ourselves why, despite efforts across the board, is this happening?  More importantly, do we need to start doing something differently?” said Ms Mckeage.

The factors which supported women’s economic progress in the June quarter include improved workforce participation, a record narrowing of the superannuation gender gap, improved underemployment, a fresh low in the gender pay gap, and higher tertiary enrolments.

The number of women employed full-time in the Australian workforce held relatively steady at a seasonally adjusted 3.27 million in June, while the female underemployment rate fell by 0.8 percentage points to 10.3% in January, from 11.1% a year ago.

The latest superannuation balance data by gender from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that in the 2017-18 financial year, the gender gap has narrowed to 28%, from 34% in the 2015-16 financial year.

“It’s great news that the super gender gap has fallen to its lowest point, but this is being driven largely by women’s increased workforce participation,” said AMP Financial Planning adviser Dianne Charman.

“The super gap widens significantly by 45 years of age because of time spent out of the workforce raising children, so women still need to have a plan for making extra contributions later in their working life,” said Ms Charman.

The Financy Women’s Index for the June quarter also shows a small decline in the number of hours per week that women spend on unpaid work. However, there has been little change in level of unpaid work undertaken by women over the past decade.

In 2017, the average woman in a coupled relationship performed a total of 59.5 hours per week in paid and unpaid work, which is 4% more than the 57.2 hours of the average man.

While the difference is small, when we calculate the percentage that is unpaid, we find that women spend 62.6% of their time doing unpaid work, while men
are doing 37.8% of unpaid work.

Gender stereotypes persist in tertiary education enrolments and we continue to see subject selection in course areas such as Information Technology being male dominated and Health being female dominated.

While more women are enrolling in tertiary studies than men, many face a gender pay gap once they enter the workforce. The average gender pay gap stands at $3,000 or 4.8% based on 2018 data.

“I’m delighted that we are moving in the right direction, with a 5-point financial year gain in the Financy Index’s metric on women’s economic progress,” said AFA Inspire National Chair Kate McCallum.

“I’m particularly delighted that women’s super balances are notching up.  However, I’m also seriously worried that it seems that women’s progress in one area is matched by backward steps in others, like the stalling of full time employment.

“It seems that when some people see improvements in one aspect of women’s equality, they extrapolate this to mean that women have equal opportunities in all areas. And then I’m worried because if they don’t believe that inequality persists, they don’t need to be concerned – or do anything – to bridge the gap.

“The good news is that we have metrics like the Financy Index to remind us that change is happening and to press for urgent action for the change we need,” said Ms McCallum.

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Bianca Hartge-Hazelman

The economic progress of Australian women marched higher over the past 12 months, helped by wages growth, more women in full-time work and occupying top company board positions.

The Financy Women’s Index, supported by Data Digger, gained 1.4 points or 1.1% to 126 points in the three months to September, from a revised 124.6 points in June 2018.

The Financy Women’s Index, supported by Data Digger, gained 1.4 points or 1.1% to 126 points in the three months to September, from a revised 124.6 points in June 2018.

But when compared to the Financy Women’s Index (FWX) Progress Target of 173.3 points, the September result falls short by 37.5%.

“The FWX Progress Target is a new aspirational guide on economic equality which could be here in the next decade if women’s progress is maintained and uninterrupted,” said Financy Women’s Index founder Bianca Hartge-Hazelman.

Nicki Hutley partner Deloitte Access Economics said that it was “both remarkable and unexpected that economic gender equality is within our grasp.”

“There are still many barriers and examples of outdated attitudes. To ensure greater equality is reached as soon as possible, we must be vigilant. And governors and organisations need to continue to develop and support programs for diversity and inclusion,” said Ms Hutley.

Key findings of the September Women’s index:

• The Financy Women’s Index edged 1.4 points or 1.1% higher to 126 points in the September quarter.
• Record full-time employment, more women on ASX 200 boards and a 20-year low in the gender pay gap assisted the progress score.
• Despite the gains, the latest result is 37.5% below the FWX Progress Target, and economic equality is still at least a decade away.

Among the key drivers of economic progress for the September quarter was an increase in female full-time employment to over 3.16 million and a 20-year low in the average wage disparity between men and women.

The expansion of the Women’s Index to include the ASX 200 with the help of the Australian Institution of Company Directors (AICD) positively affected progress. Women now occupy 28.5% of ASX 200 board positions.

OneVue Managing Director Connie McKeage said “we need to continue to discuss important issues like inclusion and gender balance around board room tables and management, however we also need to increase the activity around these matters.

“We need sustainable change and Financy’s Women’s Index is one of the levers we can rely on to provide facts to support our calls to action. Every step forward we take as organisations that care, no matter how small those steps may seem at the time, can contribute to creating a better more balanced future.”

There are also signs that the superannuation gap between men and women may be closing, although in absolute terms the gap is still very substantial.

The country’s biggest super fund, AustralianSuper reported that the gap between the life time retirement savings of men and women fell to 28% at the end of the 2018 financial year, from 30% in 2017.

AMP Financial Planning adviser Di Charman said the recent legislative change allowing people to “carry forward” their unused concessional contribution caps for up to five years was a positive measure for women.

“It will give women the opportunity to top up their super in years where they have more income and will help bridge the retirement gap,” said Ms Charman.

She added women should also remember that they can make additional after tax contributions to their super and claim them as a tax deduction.

“The key for women is to engage with their super and now is perfect timing with end of financial year statements being issued to fund members,” she said.

Education data suggests that wages and graduate salaries could be having an impact on the types of courses that women study beyond high school.

Female engineering graduates are earning more than male graduates, and are enrolling in this field at more than three-times the pace of more traditional female-dominated courses like Education.

Despite this, the average female graduate is still paid less than male graduates across all course areas.

Meanwhile Mining and Information Media and Telecommunications, which are among the highest paying sectors, stood out as having links to the fastest growing education pathways for women.

Improved wages and job outcomes helped the national gender pay gap fall to 14.6% in May, as reported in the September quarter, down from 15.2% in November 2017.

Health Care and Social Assistance recorded the biggest gender pay gap increase of any sector, up 9.6% to 25% in May compared to 22.8% in November.

Download the full report: Financy Women’s Index – September 2018

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Bianca Hartge-Hazelman

Women’s economic measure finds that Australian women are progressing but it’s a one step forward, two step back march.

The latest Financy Women’s Index powered by Data Digger has revealed that the economic progression of Australian women has suffered a disappointing setback and is yet to fully recover from a drop in workforce participation and female board representation in the first half of 2018.

The lndex recovered by 0.3 percentage points to 111 points in the three months to June, from 110.7 points in March however the June result remains 2 percentage points lower than the revised 113 point score achieved in the December quarter – when the Index hit a record high.

“While it’s pleasing to see that the Financy Women’s Index recovered a bit in the June quarter and remains in a rising trend, its disappointing that it remains down from its December high, not helped by a setback in women in board positions,” said Dr Shane Oliver Chief Economist AMP Capital.

Key findings:

• The Index edged 0.3 percentage points higher to 111 points in the June quarter from March
• The June quarter result continues to lag the December quarter and is down 2 percentage points from 113 points
• The June rebound was helped by board appointments and jobs growth
• Women are still faced with a national gender pay gap of 15.3% and a superannuation savings gap of 30% at retirement age.

“December remains a standout period for economic progress among women thanks to a jump in jobs for women, particularly retail and mining, as well as there being more women represented as a percentage on the boards of the top 20 listed companies by market capitalization,” said Financy Women’s Index Founder Bianca Hartge-Hazelman.

Despite the first half fall in economic progress, the Women’s Index is up 1.4 percentage points this financial year.

The female participation rate is 60.5%, the same as what it was in the December quarter, but up slightly on the 60.4% in the March quarter.

The country’s highest paying sector mining, shed 6,000 female employees, yet added 17,000 male employees in the six months to June, compared to the December quarter.

“Improving the positioning of women in our economy is critical from a social and ethical point of view but its also critical in terms of supporting growth in our economy,” said Dr Shane Oliver.

“Greater female participation in our economy can help soften the impact of the aging population. And perhaps even more importantly a more gender diverse economy will be a more productive economy,” he said.

The number of women represented on top ASX 20 boards increased slightly in the six months to June 2018, but still trails the December quarter.

The Index found that female board members held 30.2% of positions in the top 20 companies in the period to June, a small gain on the 30.1% in the three months to March of this year.

The June result is 1.9 percentage points less than in the December quarter, according to revisions in the Index and the use of calculations contained in the Gender Diversity Progress Report by the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

“Until we can have objective discussions and debates around the real corporate issues without turning all debates into gender specific matters, we never will make meaningful progress,” said OneVue Managing Director Connie McKeage.

To help better understand women and their economic progress, an Advisory Committee was appointed in June 2018 to review and help grow the Index, which will also undergo further developmental changes and enhancements to ensure the integrity of future reports.

This Committee includes AMP Capital’s Head of Investment Strategy and Chief Economist Shane Oliver, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group’s Senior Economist Joanne Masters, Deloitte Access Economics Partner Nicki Hutley, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research Professorial Research Fellow Roger Wilkins and Agenda Agency founder Heidi Sundin.

“I’m excited to be involved with the Financy Women’s Index,” said Jo Masters Senior Economist Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. “Measuring the economic progress of women in Australia will hopefully highlight the economic issues that women face and shape the policy debate about how these may be addressed.

The Index also shows that women continue to enrol in tertiary studies at a faster rate than men, and trends suggests that the pace of growth is highest in courses that align with higher paying careers such as information technology (IT) and engineering.

“It’s encouraging to see more women enrolling in tertiary studies than men, and strong growth in female enrolments in courses that align with higher paying careers. However, there continues to be challenges around retaining women in the workforce, with female participation rates continuing to dip in the 30-39 year old bracket,” said Ms Masters.

Women are still faced with a national gender pay gap of 15.3% and a superannuation savings gap of 30% at retirement age.

Philip Kewin, chief Executive of the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) said the latest Financy Women’s Index results indicate that progress towards creating positive and meaningful cultural change in the financial wellbeing of women in Australia is happening slowly.

“It is disappointing to see that, at 26.1 per cent, the financial and insurance services industry has the highest pay disparity of all industries.”

Data provided to the Women’s Index by the country’s biggest super fund AustralianSuper, shows that while the gender gap in super is improving, it’s not happening fast enough.

“Further work is still needed in the areas of equal pay, equality of opportunity and more equal sharing of family responsibilities to close the gap which results in too many women having insufficient savings to fund a comfortable retirement,” said Rose Kerlin Group Executive Membership AustralianSuper.

Dianne Charman chair of AFA Inspire said the fact that many women work part time is having a long term impact on their superannuation.

“The Financy Women’s Index importantly reminds us to work with women to raise awareness about how even a small contribution to superannuation will, over the long term, put women in a better position.”

Read the June 2018 report. 

By Bianca Hartge-Hazelman, Founder

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Bianca Hartge-Hazelman

Female economic measure finds that Australian women are progressing on jobs, super, pay and education but not on boards.

More Australian women are taking advantage of opportunities to progress in the economy by engaging in the workforce in record numbers and making educational decisions that align with higher paying careers, the Financy Women’s Index shows.

The Financy Women’s Index powered by Data Digger improved 0.8 percentage points to 111.7 points in the three months to December 31, compared to a revised 0.2 percentage point gain in the September quarter.

But the annual pace of female economic progress slowed as the country’s biggest listed companies did not improve on the number of women on boards.

“What Financy is mapping with the Women’s Index, is a fundament change that’s happening in society with the advancement of women, and whilst it is slow we should be excited that it is happening and is happening across a variety of indicators,” said Deloitte Access Economics Partner Nicki Hutley.

“The disappointment is that having met a key 30 per cent target set by the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) the top end of corporate Australia doesn’t seem to be pushing much further.

“Most companies do have a big diversity program, and that sort of thing is just going to take time,” said Ms Hutley.

The Financy Women’s Index rose 2 percentage points in the 12 months to the December quarter 2017, compared to a 5 percentage point rise in the year to December 2016, and a 3 percentage points improvement in the year to December 2015.

The number of women represented on the boards of the top 20 companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) remains little changed at 30.9%, which has been relatively the same for the past two years.

“We should applaud companies that have a good representation of women on their boards but we should also continue to encourage more women to put themselves forward for such opportunities,” said OneVue chief executive officer Connie McKeage.

Despite this, Australian women still have reason to celebrate economic progress this International Women’s Day week, even if it’s not happening as fast as they may like.

“Its great to see the Financy Women’s Index showing that women are continuing to make further economic progress, helped lately by record female workforce participation,” said AMP Capital chief economist Dr Shane Oliver.

“Increasing female participation is good for the economy at a time when the population is aging and male participation is trending down. But there is still a long to go in areas like the pay gap and board representation.

“Rising levels of female enrolment in tertiary education relative to men is a very positive sign though that women’s progress relative to men will continue,” he said.

The December quarter result was largely driven by a record number of women in the paid workforce, and a slight narrowing of the gender gaps in wages and superannuation savings.

Superannuation balances of women are now at fresh highs, but continue to lag men by an average of 27% in retirement savings.

The national gender pay gap fell marginally to 15.27% in the December quarter with the narrowing trend suggesting it could yet to fall below the 15.2% record previously set in 2004.

“For the first time since its launch on International Women’s Day 2017, the Financy Women’s Index for the December quarter shows a strong correlation and growing trend between women choosing educational courses linked to higher paying industries,” said Financy Women’s Index founder and editor Bianca Hartge-Hazelman.

Women are enrolling at a faster pace in tertiary studies than men, and particularly so when it comes to courses like information technology (IT) and engineering.

This in turn appears to be helping to slowly narrow the wage disparity in some, but certainly not all, higher paying and mostly male dominated sectors of the economy.

Furthermore improving employment outcomes are being borne out in a narrowing of the superannuation savings gender gap.

“On the eve of International Women’s Day, the Financy Women’s Index highlights the progress of Australian women in economic terms and the path that still needs to be travelled,” said Ms Mckeage.

“We are battling economic gender inequality and our policy makers and politicians need to reconsider how best to promote a balanced participation in the workforce. Only then, will we be in a position to drive a sustainable economic future for Australia,” she said.

Key findings

• The Index rose 0.8 percentage points to 111.7 points in the Dec qtr. 2017, compared to 110.9 points in the Sept qtr. 2017
• Annual pace of progress slowed to 2 percentage points in 2017
• Record growth in women working full time and in the workforce
• ASX top 20 company actions little changed on improving gender equality
• Gender gap in superannuation and wages narrowed slightly
• More women studying courses linked to higher paying industries

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