Women in Australia
2004

CONTENTS	1. Population Characteristics	4. Working Life	7. Management and Decision Making
	2. Family and Living Arrangements	5. Economic Resources	8. Crime and Safety
GLOSSARY	3. Health	6. Education and Training	9. Selected Population Groups

Chapter 5. Economic Resources

Women's Full-Time Earnings

Women continue to earn substantially less than men. In 2000-01, female wage and salary earners working full-time received, on average, only 84 per cent of the amounts earned by their male counterparts, with women's mean gross weekly earnings lower than men's across all age groups.

Graph 5.1 Women and Men's Mean Gross Weekly Earned Income Over Time, by Age Group, Selected Years

Women's Weekly Earned Income

The discrepancy in women's and men's earned income by age-group in 2000-01 was greatest for those aged between 55 and 64 years where women averaged 59 per cent of that earned by men. In 1994-95 the largest earned income inequity was for the 45-54 age group where women averaged 60 per cent of that earned by men.¹

(An important point to note here is that many women in this age-group have "partially retired", that is, although they have retired from full-time work, they continue to work part-time. This factor could have impact on the discrepancy seen between average wages for women and men in the 45-54 years age group).²

The large discrepancy in average earned income for these age groups is significant as the proportion of employees who make personal superannuation contributions increases with age.³

Graph 5.2 Weekly Total Earnings, Earning Ranges by Sex for All Occupations, 2002⁵

Graph 5.3 Average Total Weekly Earnings by Sex - Industry, 2002

Graph 5.4 Average Total Weekly Earnings by Sex - Occupation, 2002

Family Income

There are marked differences in the income levels of different types of families. In 2000-01 the disposable weekly income of couples with dependent children was more than double that of female lone parents (at $809 for those with a youngest child under five years and $988 for those with a youngest child aged five years or over, compared with $427), while for couples without dependents, where the female partner was aged under sixty years, disposable weekly income was close to double, at $850.

However, couples without dependants, where the female partner was aged sixty years and over, had less than half the disposable income of younger couples without dependants ($405).

Family Earnings

Employed couples with a youngest child aged at least five, earned the most among families with dependants. This has remained constant over time at $939 per week in 1994-95 and $1,230 in 2001-01 (measured as mean gross weekly earnings).

Families which earned the least were lone mothers with dependants at $157 in 1994-95 and $243 in 2000-01.

Definitions of Income and Earned Income

Women's Contribution to Family Earnings

Women's average earned contribution towards family earnings has barely increased. In 1994-95 women contributed 31 per cent towards total couple earnings and in 2000-01 women contributed 33 per cent.

Among couples, the average contribution of a woman's earnings to couple earnings was 23 per cent for those whose youngest child was aged under five years, 32 per cent where the youngest dependent child was aged five years and over, and 39 per cent where there were no dependent children and the woman was aged under 60 years.

Graph 5.5 Earned Income by Selected Family Types⁵

Women with Other Sources of Income

Women are less likely than men to derive their main source of income from a wage or salary, their own business, or superannuation; and more likely than men to rely on a government pension or allowance.

The last decade has seen an increase in the total number of people, particularly men, receiving the Age Pension.

In June 1991 men comprised 30 per cent of Age Pension recipients while by June 2001 men formed 38 per cent of Age Pension recipients. At that time, 1,104,900 women and 688,600 men received the Age Pension.

In 2000-01 for close to two thirds of lone female parents (61 per cent), government pensions and allowances were their main source of income, and for more than one third (38%), this payment comprised at least 90 per cent or more of their income.

Around 200,000 lone mothers received payments from a non-custodial parent to support dependent children in 2000-01 (up from some 133,000 in 1994-95), and on an average these payments comprised around 15 per cent of their total income. Similar payments to some 65,000 couple families (up from 44,000 in 1994-95) comprised an average of eight per cent of their income.

Parenting payments went predominantly to women, (90 per cent) though men are increasingly drawing these payments.⁶

Women with No Income

In 2000-01, six per cent of women and four per cent of men received no income, while in 1994-95, seven per cent of women and three per cent of men received no income.

Family Types and Home Ownership

Measurement of home ownership is important as for the majority of families; their home is their major asset.⁸

The ability to attain home ownership differs by family type and stage of life.

Graph 5.6 Housing 2000-01, Tenure Type by Family Type

In 2000-01, the figure for the above family types who rented housing or boarded averaged out at 26 per cent. However, almost two-thirds of lone mothers with dependent children (62 per cent) lived in rental or boarding house accommodation, spending an average of 27 per cent of income on housing costs.

Home ownership (at 84 per cent) was most likely for couples with the woman aged over 60 years without dependants.

A report authored by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) gives a profile of home ownership by age group over time.

The NATSEM report, Generation Xcluded, compares the life experiences of "Generation Xers" (defined in the report as those born between 1961-1976) against other generations such as Pre-boomers (born between 1931 and 1946) and Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1961).

According to the report the lower home ownership rate among Generation Xers can largely be attributed to "...their delay in leaving home and establishing economic independence...".⁹

The report notes that:

"If we compare the 1999 home ownership rates of 25 to 39 year olds with the same age group years previously, we see a significant shift from home ownership to renting.

In 1989, 64% of all 25 to 39 year olds were outright home owners or home buyers... Ten years later, this [was] down to 54 per cent."¹⁰

The number of tenants in the private market has thus seen a corresponding rise from 22 per cent of 25 to 39 year olds in 1989 to 31 per cent of this age group in 1999.¹¹

While 'Generation X' exhibits some changes in lifestyle from the preceding generations, in one key area they are very similar. The Generation Xcluded report notes that while fatherhood has little impact on male patterns of work, the story is different for women.

Both single and coupled Generation X women have very similar work force participation rates to men. For example, in 1999 around 66 per cent of single women and men in this age group were employed full-time.¹²

However, as Generation Xcluded, notes:

"Once children arrive, everything changes for married Generation X women. Their likelihood of holding down a full-time job plummets from 67% to only 16%... As they adjust to the demands of child rearing, their likelihood of having a part-time job almost doubles from 18% to 30%, and their chance of being out of the labour force increases five-fold from 7% to 42%."¹³

Women and Superannuation

The necessity to be able to access adequate superannuation in retirement is increasingly important for both women and men. Future adequate superannuation provision is a key area where women are presently lagging far behind men.

A large proportion of the female work force now have employer funded super (95 per cent of women in full-time work had coverage in 2001), largely as a result of the introduction of the Superannuation Guarantee.¹⁴

However, several factors lay behind the majority of women currently being unable to benefit from superannuation provision in the way men can.

The amount of compulsory superannuation contributions paid for women and men is generally based on a percentage of their salary.

Therefore, as average earnings for women are less than for men, contributions made for women are on average less than contributions made for men. Consequently, women will on average receive smaller retirement benefits than men.¹⁶

As the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia also explains:

"Women currently spend on average the equivalent of 18 years full-time in the paid labour force compared to 38 years for men. Younger women are more likely to work for more years on average than the previous generation. However, many women are likely to have breaks from employment to care for children or elderly relatives.

In 2002, 45.2% of female employees worked on a part-time basis, whilst only 14.4% of male employees worked part-time.

Women tend to be concentrated in industries and occupations with relatively low rates of pay. For example, nearly 50% of women employees are in just 4 occupations: clerks (30%); sales assistants (11%); cleaners (4%) and tellers, cashiers and ticket salespersons (4%). As a result, average weekly earnings of women are lower than those for men.

Coupled with the fact that women live longer (and therefore, need their benefits to finance a longer period of retirement) the superannuation benefits many women receive will not be enough to provide an adequate retirement income on their own".¹⁷

Graph 5.7 Retired Persons Who Had Received a Lump Sum Payment^*

Women's Capacity to Save

Until very recently it has generally been considered that it has been a husband's duty to provide financial security for his wife. Culturally this was expected, and in former decades few couples got divorced. Women were encouraged to 'stay at home' and to depend financially on a male breadwinner. Even then however, only a small proportion of women were left comfortably off later in life.¹⁸

The importance of women adopting a savings plan becomes apparent when the following statistics are considered (frequently though, factors mitigate against women providing for themselves in a concrete way).

As data commissioned from the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the Office of the Status of Women in 2001 showed:

• The majority of people aged 85 years and over were women.
• Of women aged 80 years and over, only 11 per cent were living in a private dwelling with their partner.
• Of lone women aged 65 and over, more than four fifths (82 per cent) depended on government pensions or allowances as their principal source of income.

As the research paper, The Importance of Saving over the Life Cycle: A Woman's Perspective notes:

Retirement incomes are often talked about in terms of the three pillars in Australia, the first pillar is the government safety net - the Age Pension; the second is compulsory superannuation; the third is voluntary saving.^*

In some sense, all three pillars are about saving. However, the Age Pension is funded through general revenue and compulsory superannuation is, precisely, compulsory.¹⁸

Key factors which affect women's capacity to save are summarised in The Importance of Saving over the Life Cycle: A Woman's Perspective as follows:

• First, on average, women live longer than men - so if anything, they need more retirement savings than men.
• Second, on average, women spend less time in the paid work force than men.
• Third, on average, women earn less, and have lower incomes than men.¹⁹

Although women's participation in the labour force continues to proportionately increase, women also still tend to be the primary carers for children and other dependent family members.

The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) notes that the dual role of income earner and primary carer:

"... has a significant impact on women's workplace participation, and severely affects their lifetime earning potential. Women with dependent children are:

• More likely to work part-time
• Less likely to be employed
• Potentially disadvantaged by less experience if they have taken parental leave
• Potentially restricted in their recruitment prospects by inflexible workplace structures and practices
• Compared with their childless counterparts, likely to earn $172,000 less over their lifetimes."²⁰

International Economic Inequities

According to the Gender Promotion Information Resource (GENPROM) for the International Labour Organisation (ILO):

Globalisation has created both unprecedented economic opportunities as well as deepened social inequalities and personal insecurities. Both women and men have been affected. However, gender inequalities persist and it is overwhelmingly women who suffer the most:

• With 54 per cent of working women in the labour force as compared to over 80 per cent male participation, the world is not making the most of its female talents and potentials.
• Poverty is increasingly feminised. Women constitute 70 per cent of the world's 1.3 billion absolute poor.
• Half of the world's labour is in sex-stereotyped occupations, with women dominating those occupations which are lowest paying and least protected.
• More and more women are entering paid work but more jobs have often not meant better jobs. In developed countries, most new employment has been in part-time jobs, while in developing countries women have gone mainly into the informal sector and home-based work. Globally, women earn 20 to 30 per cent less than men.
• Women continue to be mainly responsible for the 'care economy'. If the value of the unpaid invisible work done by women - approximately US$11 trillion per annum is included, global output would be almost 50 per cent greater.
• Some women have breached glass walls and ceilings, but worldwide they hold only one per cent of chief executive positions. The majority experience the effects of the so-called 'sticky floor' at the bottom rungs of their occupation.
• More women are creating their own businesses, which are important sources of employment. But the policy, regulatory and institutional environments are often unfriendly to female entrepreneurs.
• Women are increasingly migrating, both legally and illegally, for employment. Female migrant workers are among the most vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. The international trafficking of women and children (boys and girls) is one of the most serious and fastest growing problems of today.
• Women continue to have less access than men to investments in skills, knowledge and lifelong learning. In a world increasingly dominated by information and communication technology, gender inequalities lead to new forms of social exclusion.
• The gender gap is greying into a poverty trap: women face a much higher risk than men of a drastic drop in living standards when they retire. Yet women account for the majority of the over-60 population in almost all countries.²¹

---

Footnotes

1 Australian Bureau of Statistics 1995, 2001, Survey of Income and Housing Costs,1995, 2001, (Cat. No. 6553.0), Canberra.
2 Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998, Retirement and Retirement Intentions, 1997, (Cat. No. 6238.0), Canberra.
3 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001, Employee Arrangements and Superannuation, 2001 (Cat. No. 6361.0), Canberra.
4 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2003, Average Weekly Earnings, Australia: 2003, (Cat. No. 6302.0), Canberra.
5 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001, Government Benefits,Taxes And Household Income, 1998-99 (Cat. No. 6537.0), Canberra. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2003, Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, 2003, (Cat. No. 6302.0), Canberra.
6 Department of Family and Community Services, 2002, Income Support Customers, unpublished data, Canberra.
7 Centrelink 2002, Parenting Payment, Centrelink, http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsfsd003.htm, viewed 5 March 2004.
8 National Centre for Social and Economical Modelling, 2003, Generation Xcluded: Income and Wealth of Generation X, NATSEM, http://www.amp.com.au/au/3column/0,2338,CH7497%255FSI56,00.html, viewed 17 March 2004.
9 National Centre for Social and Economical Modelling, above n 8.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid.
14 The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia Ltd. 2002, Fact Sheet 6: Women and Super, from Fact Sheet Series 'Fact Sheets for Women and Men on Superannuation and Retirement Income', ASFA, viewed at 17 March 2004, http://www.superannuation.asn.au/super/rpm.cfm?page=wsi6.
15 Department of Family and Community Services 2004, Submission to Senate Select Committee Inquiry: Attachment B - Superannuation (Compulsory and Voluntary) and Other Private Savings, FACS, http://www.facsia.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/aboutfacs/programs/seniors-superannuation.htm , viewed 17 March 2004.
16 The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia Ltd. 2003, Fact Sheet 8: Do Women get as much Superannuation as Men?, from Fact Sheet Series 'Fact Sheets for Women and Men on Superannuation and Retirement Income', ASFA, http://www.superannuation.asn.au/super/rpm.cfm?page=wis8, viewed 17 March 2004.
17 Ibid.
18 Office of the Status of Women 2001, The Importance of Saving over the Life Cycle: A Woman's Perspective, media release, 7 September 2001, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Canberra,. http://www.osw.dpmc.gov.au/index.html, viewed 17 March 2004.
* Savings in this context include owner-occupied and investment property, share portfolios, term deposits as well as regular amounts deposited in a bank, building society or credit union.
19 Ibid.
20 Ibid.
21 Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, Pay Equity: Unequal Distribution of Carer Responsibility, EOWA, http://www.eeo.gov.au/About_Equal_Opportunity/Key_Agenda_Items/Pay_Equiry/Causes_Of_Pay_Gaps/Unequal_Distribution_of_Carer_Reponsibility.asp, viewed 17 March 2004.

---

Table 5.1 Individual Earnings^(a) and Income^(b)

Table 5.2 Earnings^(a) and Income,^(b) 1994-95

Table 5.2.1 Earnings^(a) and Income,^(b) 2000-01

Table 5.3 Child Support Payments^(a) Made to Women

Table 5.4 Housing, 2000-2001