The economic wellbeing of Australian women improved in 2018 but the pace of progress slowed to its lowest level since 2014.
The Financy Women’s Index (FWX), which measures economic progress across education, work, pay, leadership positions, and superannuation, rose 0.2 points in the December quarter to 126.3 points and reflects a 4.4 percentage point improvement on 121.9 points in December 2017.
Bianca Hartge-Hazelman founder of the Women’s Index said three records were broken this year to help drive women’s economic progress in 2018.
“We have over 3.21 million women in full-time employment, record women pursuing higher educational qualifications and a 20-year low in the national gender pay gap.
“But disappointingly the rate of progress in educational attainment is not being matched in the labour force, the superannuation gender gap remains too wide and female board appointments stalled in the second half of 2018.”
Key Results Financy Women’s Index December quarter
- The Financy Women’s Index improved 0.2 percentage points in the December quarter to 126.3 points.
- The December result builds on the women’s economic progress score for 2018, which is 4.4 points higher for the year.
- The 2018 result was helped by record female full-time employment and workforce participation, as well as record tertiary enrolments.
- But the annual pace of progress is 1.7 points lower in 2018 and travelled at its slowest pace since 2014.
- Despite the slower pace of progress in 2018, Australian women remain on track to achieving economic equality next decade.
When the December result of the Women’s Index is compared to the FWX Progress Target of 173.3 points, it shows that on the basis of current trends we’re still at least a decade away (37% short) from achieving economic equality in Australia.*
The number of women occupying ASX 200 board positions is down slightly to 28.4% with the pace of progress stalling in the second half of 2018.
OneVue Managing Director Connie McKeage said “although the percentage of women on the ASX 200 Boards has gone slightly backwards over the period it is fair to say that the financial services industry in particular has been challenged by the high level of regulatory uncertainty.
“The diversity objective remains top of mind for most Australian listed companies, however, as they continue to strive to get the right people into the right positions, the deadline looms. As they say, however, better late than never and I remain confident we will get there in this financial year.”
The latest education data shows more women studying beyond high school and that male-dominated technical fields, which tend to provide pathways to higher-paying careers, are increasingly sought after.
In 2017, there were 839,278 women and 673,401 men, representing 55% v 45% of student enrolments respectively.
Shane Oliver chief economist AMP Capital said while it was pleasing to see that the economic wellbeing of women is continuing to improve, more needs to be done to support women in the workforce.
“Higher levels of female participation in tertiary education along with changing community attitudes and expectations provide confidence that this will continue.
“But we need to do more in making it easier for women to participate as much as they would like in the workforce and to ensure they receive all the same opportunities and rewards as men.”
The number of women in full-time employment hit a high of 3.21 million in the second half of 2018, outpacing the level of male full-time employment growth.
The participation rate also increased to 60.5% in October 2018, from 60.1% 12 months earlier.
The three biggest employers of women in terms of growth rates over 2018 were Construction up 23%, followed by Public Administration and Safety up 22% and Mining up 20%.
The sectors that recorded a widening of the gender pay gap in 2018 were Health Care and Social Assistance up 2.2 percentage points, Other Services (consisting of personal care services; religious, civic, professional services) up 1.9 percentage points, and Mining up 0.9 percentage points.
The sectors which reduced their gender pay gaps in 2018 were Construction down 5.1 percentage points, followed by Accommodation and Food Services down 2.5 percentage points and Arts and Recreation Services down 3.7 percentage points.
Overall improved wages and job outcomes for women at the start of 2018 helped the national gender pay gap fall to 14.6% in 2018, from 15.2% in 2017.
The gender gap in superannuation persists with women falling at 34% short compared to men at retirement age.
Despite this, AMP Financial Planning adviser Dianne Charman said 2018 had been a better year for women’s superannuation.
“New measures like the rollover of unused concessional contribution caps have the potential to make a big dent in the gap between men and women’s average super balances over time,” Ms Charman said.
“Changes like this directly address the issue of women’s interrupted work patterns.”
The December 2018 report is available at: https://financy.com.au/financy-womens-index/
* The FWX Progress Target is a tentative aspirational guide on economic equality and will be revised in time as the Index undergoes fine tuning.
The result means that if the current rate of annual economic progress among women, with an average increase of 4.3 points a year, were sustained and uninterrupted then economic equality could be achieved in about 10 years time.
The FWX Progress Target calculates economic equality on the basis of there being zero gender pay gap, a zero gender gap in superannuation savings, 50% gender diversity on ASX 200 boards, male and female participation rates are equal, female full-time employment is 70% of current male full-time employment, and tertiary education enrolments are maintained in relative growth terms.
Bianca Hartge-Hazelman
Founder, Financy Women’s Index
Mobile: 0403 656 399
biancahh@financy.com.au