Much attention is given to the gender pay gap, but one hears much less about the increasing gender pension gap –  a growing problem in most countries.
Pension systems are usually based on employment related contributions.  Women’s working patterns – long career breaks because of child rearing, part-time work , lower salaries and lower retirement ages – all result in reduced pension benefits.  Many women rely upon their partners for retirement income, but this is not always a secure option. Coupled with their longer life expectancy,  these factors are forcing older women into the poorest demographic groups in many nations.
One solution would be for women to increase optional contributions to pension schemes, but during the economic downturn, fewer women can afford to save, especially those with dependent children.
Some developed countries try to compensate  for these differences through systems providing a universal minimum pension and credits for child rearing years. A few have even established pension schemes based on residence instead of employment or family work.
What is the situation in your country? How can the gender pension gap be addressed? Most young women do not think about the later impact of “lost†working years, lower salaries and part-time hours. How do you think women can build a financially secure future?
what about those women who are caregivers throughout much of their adult life, providing personal cares for children with complex care needs,and then those children as they become adults and require considerable help. What about those women who give up work to care for their ageing parents.
These are women who do not/cannnot work, but who, by their family caregiving, save the State millions of dollars a year.
There has just been a landmark case in NZ, awarding payment to families giving care to adult children with complex care needs. This is great! At the same time, I believe there should be acknowledgement of family caregiving by some form of superannuation, because they were unable to work during their own employment years.
Greetings, Talofa lava from Samoa and the Samoa Association of Women Graduates – SAWG.
The gender pension gap in our country is changed a bit since all the advocacy work for more women at decision making level and having good positions in government and other offices.
My suggestion with a way to address the issues would be going back into education system and how we can encourage women to excel in their chosen careers and utilise educational opportunities.
I recently read that the ‘boomer’ age group in Australia are becoming recognised as the ‘sandwich’ generation – a pretty fair label for me. I stopped work at 54 to care for an elderly widowed mother, taking the opportunity to get a bachelor degree in that time. Since then, mother in a nursing home, husband now needing care, and 5 grandchildren needing occasional care and still unable to convince an employer to take a chance with me, and only little superannuation for my retirement, I’m now returning to study to make myself more employable, but what’s my chances eh?
The women that are saving in a pension are saving a smaller percentage of what they earn, compounding the effect of the pay gap. The gender gap in state pensions is falling because of the Government’s reforms, but the gap in private pensions is increasing