Progress towards women’s financial equality accelerated in the June quarter, according to the latest data from Financy Women’s Index (FWX).
Building on the 1.5 per cent gain for the year to date, the FWX shows gender financial equality increased 78.67 points, an improvement from 77.94 points in the March quarter.
The Index measures scores across seven areas (education, employment, underemployment, wages, unpaid work, ASX 200 board gender diversity and wealth ‘superannuation’) on a 0 to 100 scale. The scores are expressed as a percentage and reflect the portion of the gender gap that has been closed.
The progress on gender financial equality is driven by broad-based improvements in women’s employment, underemployment, and the gender pay gap, the June Quarter Report says.
The national gender pay gap narrowed to 11.5 per cent from 11.9 per cent in the March quarter, which is also its best result on record. This helped improve the timeframe to pay parity to 21.5 years – which is also the median timeframe for financial gender equality.
Employment conditions for women were supported by increased flexible and part-time work opportunities, as female monthly hours worked grew by 1.0 per cent over the quarter. This significantly outpaced male hours worked, which grew by only 0.2 per cent.
The gender gap in underemployment also improved, with the rate of female underemployment falling and the male rate rising.
The only setback came in ASX 200 Board Leadership, as progress on gender diversity stalled among the country’s largest companies, who hit their 40 per cent target and appear to have paused on reaching 50 per cent gender balance.
Independent economist and FWX Advisory Committee member Nicki Hutley warns of complacency, saying the danger lies in more companies approaching the 40:40:20 model, slowing progress and making the final push to true parity even harder to achieve. Effectively, this model is being treated as a 40:60 model, in favour of men, she warns.
Nevertheless, gender equality on ASX 200 Boards remains an achievable goal, with annual progress showing Australia is on track for equality by mid-2030. The FWX projects gender parity on these boards in just 4.8 years.
Despite gains in gender financial equality, the report also notes that highly educated women continue to be underutilised when it comes to accessing opportunities to contribute their full potential to national economic productivity.
A key factor to this barrier is the undervaluation of women’s employment in care-related roles and persistent imbalance in unpaid work.
While female workforce participation is at record highs, the working patterns of men and women are vastly different and contribute to the barriers seen in closing gender gaps for good.
Women in part-time jobs account for 21 per cent of the Australian workforce, compared to men, who overwhelmingly work full-time, as men in part-time jobs make up only 10 per cent of the workforce.
This trend is driven by a mix of factors, including personal choice, flexible work arrangements, rigid school hours, and the availability of quality, affordable childcare
The FWX Index has made key recommendations for economic reform and productivity, including to invest in high-quality, accessible, and universal childcare and to extend school hours to better align with modern work schedules. This would help empower women to pursue roles that best match their skills and interests, without geography or gender stereotypes holding them back.
Other recommendations include promoting and incentivising gender-balanced flexible work arrangements through established frameworks like the Family Inclusive Workplace Certification.
The Index also says targeted reforms to tax and superannuation could help close the gender financial equality earnings gap, particularly for women who have to leave the workforce for caregiving or work in highly feminised sectors that aren’t compensated as much as male-dominated fields.
“A systemic solution requires integrating a gender perspective into all economic discussions, from productivity to tax reform,” the report says.
“The challenge is no longer just about increasing female workforce participation, which is already at a record high, but about utilising women’s educational attainment and skills more effectively. By treating gender equality as a critical strategy for a more prosperous Australia, policymakers can unlock significant productivity gains.”