Bridging the Superannuation Gender Gap: Prepare Women for Retirement

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The information in this article contains general advice and is provided by Hood Sweeney Securities Pty Ltd AFSL No.220897. That advice has been prepared without taking your personal objectives, financial situation or needs into account. Before acting on this general advice, you should consider the appropriateness of it having regard to your personal objectives, financial situation and needs. Please refer to our FSG (available at https://www.hoodsweeney.com.au/services/financial-planning/how-we-service-our-clients/financial-services-guide) for contact information and information about remuneration and associations with product issuers.

Women often face a significant superannuation gap, retiring with an average of 25% less superannuation than men.¹Juggling household schedules and carrying the mental load for a family can push superannuation and retirement planning way down the priority list for many women, particularly those in their 30s and 40s.

Among the factors that drive this super disparity are:

Career Interruptions: Women typically take time out of the workforce for maternity leave and to care for children and elderly family members.
Part-Time and Casual Work: Many women work part-time or casually to accommodate school hours or because of a lack of accessible childcare.
Gender Pay Gap: Women earn about 22.8% less than men and are underrepresented in management roles. Female-dominated industries, such as nursing and childcare, typically offer lower wages.
Relationship Breakdowns: Separation can make accumulating super a low priority for someone on a single income and facing high living costs. There also may be a lack of awareness about superannuation division rights during separation.

Women also generally live longer than men (88 years compared to 85.3), which means their accumulated superannuation savings and other assets may not be adequate to support them during their retirement years.

There are some government initiatives that can help boost women's superannuation balances, such as:

Super Contributions on Paid Parental Leave: From 1 July 2025, a 12% super contribution will be paid to those receiving government-funded Paid Parental Leave (PPL). PPL will increase to 24 weeks from 1 July 2025 (from 22 weeks currently), and to 26 weeks from 1 July 2026. Based on the current rate of $183.16 per day, this will result in a super contribution of $2,637.50 from 1 July 2025.
Super Guarantee Increases: Employee Super Guarantee contributions have increased from 9% in 2013 to 12% by June 2026.
Minimum Earnings for Super Guarantee: The $450 per month minimum earnings threshold for Super Guarantee contributions was abolished on 1 July 2022, benefiting many women.
Low Income Super Tax Offset (LISTO): People earning under $37,500 per annum can receive a super contribution of up to $500 to reduce the tax paid on super contributions.

While these initiatives are a good start, to really grow super balances, women could consider the following strategies:

Spouse Super Contribution: If the main income earner contributes $3,000 to their spouse's superannuation account, they will receive a personal tax offset of up to $540.
Government Co-Contribution: If you personally contribute $1,000 to super, you will receive a 50% co-contribution from the government (up to $500).
Super Splitting: 85% of a person’s eligible super contributions can be ‘split’ or transferred to their spouse. Eligible contributions include employer super contributions and salary sacrifice contributions.
Carry Forward/Bring Forward Super Contributions: You can use more than one year’s super contributions in ‘one go’ to boost super balances, for example, upon returning to full-time work and receiving surplus cash flow or accumulated funds.

These strategies do have additional qualifying criteria and may not be suitable for everyone. We recommend you discuss further with your Financial Planner if you are interested in any of these options.

Seeking guidance and implementing strategies now can create significant benefits at retirement and may eventually help narrow the superannuation gap between men and women.

To find out more, contact Emma Burckhardt, Representative Financial Planner with Hood Sweeney Securities Pty Ltd (AFS Licence No. 220897)

¹The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, ASFA Research: An update on superannuation account balances, November 2023.