ANZ Reveals Barriers to Achieving Gender Equity
29 July 2015 at 11:22 am
Banking giant ANZ says it will introduce measures to redress gender inequality after new research shows that women earn $700,000 less than men over a working career due to ‘structural bias’.
ANZ said it will introduce new measures to help women better engage with their financial futures and address the structural bias and subsequent financial disadvantage they face in the workplace and retirement.
The announcement follows ANZ’s release of new research into gender inequality in Australia, which found that that full-time female workers are paid on average $295 per week less than men or $15,000 dollars a year which, over their lifetime, equates to an average of $700,000 less than men.
The report also revealed that women on average earn 18.8 per cent less than men, around 90 per cent retire with inadequate savings to fund a comfortable lifestyle in retirement and almost 15 per cent of women are likely to experience poverty in retirement.
ANZ said the new measures include a top-up of superannuation payments of $500 per annum to ANZ’s permanent and fixed term female employees in Australia to address the gap in retirement savings and free superannuation advice for customers with less than $50,000 in superannuation to help them grow their knowledge and confidence to support their financial decisions.
“Women play a critical role in global economies – however our report shows they can still earn up to 36 per cent less than men and retire with around half the superannuation,” ANZ CEO Global Wealth Joyce Phillips said.
“Over time, we believe these new measures will help improve the financial security of women at ANZ by directly targeting the areas of advice, superannuation and financial education,” Phillips said.
The new report ‘Barriers to achieving financial gender equity’, examines the reasons for financial inequality between men and women. It charts the financial lifecycle of women from childhood to retirement and compares their experience with men across education, income, careers, leadership and wealth creation.
“We know women are at a financial disadvantage, however this research also confirms what’s really restricting the financial future of women is the inherent structural bias in the way the workplace, education, social and legal systems are established,” Phillips said.
“There is an opportunity for us to address these imbalances at ANZ and to work to redesign the systems within both business and the community to support women’s success and financial well-being for the future.
