Ahead of International Women’s Day, new data shows progress towards women’s economic equality has gained momentum, despite global challenges creating future uncertainty.
The findings come from the Financy Women’s Index (FWX), a quarterly measurement of the economic progress of women and timeframes to gender equality in Australia.
In 2024, the FWX showed financial gender equality progress rose from 0.76 points to 77.59 points in December. That’s up from 76.83 points in December 2023.
This makes 2024 the strongest year-on-year progress since December 2021, with key drivers on the improvement including record ASX 200 Board representation for women, better employment levels and a reduced gender gap in unpaid work as men took on more housework and childcare.
Looking ahead, timeframes to gender equality have improved as well, with ASX 200 Board parity expected in five years. Pay parity is forecast in 21.7 years, superannuation in 17.7 years, underemployment in 21.4 years, employment in 24.5 years, unpaid work in 42.4 years and education in 348.6 years.
There are some dynamics, however, that could influence the momentum of gender equality progress, including rising living costs, a federal election and US president Donald Trump’s anti-DEI stance.
“The Financy Women’s Index showed further progress towards financial equality for women in Australia, but we have a lot further to go – particularly in areas like education and unpaid work,” says Dr Shane Oliver, Chief Economist at AMP.
“It’s also critical that the outcome of the upcoming federal election maintains this progress and doesn’t see a backsliding in flexible working arrangements which risks making it harder for women to participate fully in the workforce.”
“Making it harder for women to participate in the workforce would likely mean less female labour market participation which could mean lower economic activity than would otherwise be the case and a risk of higher inflation flowing from the smaller labour force. It could also threaten the economy’s ability to respond to the pressures of an aging population which will mean more consumers for each worker,” says Dr Oliver.
Bianca Hartge-Hazelman, author of the Financy Women’s Index, says that over the past two decades, gender financial equality has been shaped by economic conditions, corporate sentiment and government policies.
Hartge-Hazelman also says the foundation for corporate-level change being laid by the Workplace Gender Equality Act, introduced in 2012 under Julia Guillard’s government.
“Following this, we saw significant FWX growth in 2013 (3 per cent), as the Act took effect, and again in 2018 (3 per cent) during the Me Too movement, which spurred corporate action on gender equality,” Hartge-Hazelman says.
“The current pace of progress in gender equality depends on consistent policy support and corporate commitment.”
“We’ve seen over the past two decades how political shifts can influence outcomes, and the upcoming election will be critical in determining the trajectory for years to come,” she says.
“However, challenges remain with persistent cost of living pressures, a looming Federal Election, proposals to unwind flexible work in the public sector, and the re-election of US President Donald Trump. These factors -particularly Trump’s attack on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, mean there is greater uncertainty and concern about the outlook for gender equality.”