How well does super work for women?

Oksana Patron

3 March 2023

The gap between an average female and male account balance remains still highly significant, in particular in the 45-60 years age brackets where the full effect of child-rearing responsibilities remains blatantly visible.

According to the Morningstar Superannuation Survey, there is a material difference of more than $44,000 on average between 55 and 59 years old and this gap is not likely to be markedly reduced in the cohort of 65 plus.

This leaves women, who have a longer life expectancy, with lower overall balances but in the 65+ cohort  women often see subsequent balance transfers to female widows

Further to that, the female representation at the higher end of the account balance spectrum is not so prominent either, with almost half the number of female accounts at $500,000 or more compared to male counterparts.

The survey also looked at gender diversity on trustee boards and found that the representation of women acting as trustees on superannuation boards was “definitely trending in the right direction” compared to the period fiver year ago.

According to the data, there were eight funds with 15% or less of their board composed of women, but, on the other hand, 44 funds saw the female representation that accounted for more than 30% of their board seats.

By contrast, five years ago only half of all funds has more than 30% of women on their board.

Although there is a progress in this field, the results of the survey showed that the superannuation industry was “not there yet” when it comes to embracing equity.

“The superannuation system should be focused on providing adequate income for all Australians—and this includes women. However, as the saying goes, culture starts at the top; we are slowly starting to see board representation levels improve, and there are an increasing number of women taking top jobs at superannuation funds,” the report said.

“The superannuation industry obviously cannot solve this issue in isolation. We need all Australians, including the government, to lean in and tackle this ongoing and complex societal issue.”