Women still behind on super contributions, research shows
The majority of women are not making additional personal contributions to super and, on average, make lower contributions than men, according to new research.
This week, Fidelity International in Australia released its study Financial Independence of Women, which surveyed over 2,000 participants.
The study found that women are typically less confident about contributing to super and contributing lower amounts to super compared with men.
The research found that 55 per cent of women do not make any personal contributions to super, compared to 44 per cent of men that do not make personal contributions.
Only 20 per cent of women contributed 4 per cent or more of their income to super, compared to 30 per cent of men.
Fidelity International managing director Alva Devoy said there is still a significant difference between men and women in terms of planning for retirement and contributions to super.
“You have women less likely to plan, less actively contributing to their super and only four in 10 have a plan for retirement. If you look at that relative to men and there is a massive disparity,” said Ms Devoy.
“You have women less likely to be contributing to super and yet women take more time out of the workforce and also live longer.”
One in three women stated that they did not have a plan for retirement in the survey, compared to 18 per cent of men.
The research did show, however, that most women are motivated to improve their financial wellbeing, with seven in 10 highly motivated to improve their financial wellbeing.
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
