Women's Index: Australia is still an economically unequal society
/The Financy Women’s Index tracks and measures the economic progress of Australian women each quarter, with September results published recently. We’ve made some financial progress, but women are still waiting on society to catch up when it comes to unpaid work. The index crept up 0.6 points to 124.8 points, from a revised 124.2 points in June 2019.
Financial inequalities in the index are measured across eight key areas:
Education
Employment
Underemployment
Participation rate
Unpaid work
Wages
Boards
Superannuation
Key results of the September quarter index include:
Pace of progress has slowed quarter-on-quarter primarily due to a dip in female directorships on ASX 200 boards
The index was bolstered by record highs in female participation rates and female full-time employment numbers
Workforce inequalities may take another 37 years to resolve
We’re looking at, with the current pace of change, at 200 years to achieve gender balance in unpaid work in Australia
Gains were also seen due to improvements in the gender pay gap and in superannuation
The pace of unpaid work and female board appointments held us back
Female board appointments dropped slightly to 29.5 per cent from 29.7 per cent in June and December 2018 - the worst figures in a decade
The gender pay gap is at a new low of 14 per cent
We’re making progress in superannuation balances, with 2015-16 super balances for women 34 per cent less than men, while now it’s (still a high) 28 per cent less
