Study flags ‘startling’ gender wealth disparity

Global advisory firm WTW has released findings from its 2022 Global Gender Wealth Equity report, which reveals that on average, women approach retirement with just 74% of the wealth accumulated by men. 

The wealth gap was larger in Australia, where women retired with approximately 72%  of the wealth of men.

The disparity reportedly increased with seniority, with the findings suggesting women in senior expert and leadership roles accumulated less than two-thirds (62%) of the wealth of their male counterparts. This narrowed to 69% for mid-level professional and technical roles, and 89% for frontline operational roles.

The results also indicated geographical disparities, including across the Asia Pacific (APAC), where the gender wealth gap ranged from 64% in India to 90% in South Korea.

Of the 12 APAC markets analysed in the study, six had a lower wealth gap than the global average—China (78%), Japan (82%), Philippines (79%) and Singapore (79%).

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Australia also reportedly fell below the global average when assessing the share of senior leadership positions occupied by women — two percentage points below the global average of 9%.

According to Manjit Basi, senior director, integrated & global solutions at WTW, the results of the study were “startling”.

“It shows that there is a gender wealth gap consistently across the 39 countries that we studied,” she said.

Basi claimed the primary drivers of the disparity were gender pay gaps, delayed career trajectories, gaps in financial literacy, and family caregiving responsibilities outside the workplace.

Louise Campbell, head of retirement Australia, said she was surprised by the wealth gap across senior expert and leadership roles in Australia.

“It is imperative that activities around gender diversity, equity and inclusion broaden to look at economic wealth at the end of women’s working careers,” she said.

“Pay is a fundamental factor that underlies the gender wealth gap and while addressing the gender pay gap will partially close the wealth gap, it won’t eliminate it entirely.

“Enabling career progression and designing total rewards programs which do not penalise women for taking career breaks and assuming career responsibilities is imperative to provide a more equitable wealth outcome for Australian women.”

 The WTW study acknowledged the rise in environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities, as well as broader corporate focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.

 “Gender inequity in wealth accumulation is under-researched and overlooked. The reality is that the wealth inequity issue and its causes and effects are multidimensional and should be studied and addressed as such,” Basi added.

By focusing on accumulated wealth at retirement, the disparity could be quantified, and actions could be taken through broader society, government and organisations to equalise wealth outcomes.

“This is a clear opportunity for corporations to differentiate themselves as progressive employers by taking action to support the equalisation of gender wealth accumulation.”