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Women’s Index shows progress in gender equality has been held back by pay gap and covid disruptions
Key Results:
The Financy Women’s Index (FWX) improved 0.5 points to 72.9 points in the June quarter, reflecting a rebound in economic gender equality.
Improved gender diversity on ASX 200 board positions and a closing of the gender gap in the underemployment rate supported the overall FWX score.
But a worsening gender pay gap coupled with faster male employment growth than female held back progress.
Year on year, the FWX is yet to recover from the disruptions of the pandemic and is down 0.3 points compared to June 2021 (73.3 points.)
Years to equality in ASX 200 board leadership improved to 6.2 years, from 6.4, the timeframe to equality in the gender pay gap worsened to 23.4 years from 22.7 and the total timeframe to gender equality remained unchanged at 59 years, based on the worst area – unpaid work.
Regression in the gender pay gap and a stronger pickup in male employment growth over female in the June quarter has stifled a rebound in Australia’s progress to gender equality, the latest Financy Women’s Index (FWX) shows.
The FWX is a quarterly measurement of the economic progress of women and timeframes to gender equality in Australia. The FWX provides a snapshot on gender equality across seven critical areas: education, employment, underemployment, wages, unpaid work, ASX 200 board gender diversity and superannuation.
Overall, the Financy Women’s Index (FWX) rose by 0.5 points to 72.9 points in the June quarter from 72.5 points in March, helped by a small increase in the number of women joining ASX 200 boards and a narrowing of the gap between males and females in the underemployment rate.
But the FWX is yet to recover to where it was at the end of 2021 (73.2 points in December 2021) and in annual terms, the FWX is 0.3 points lower than where it was in June 2021 (73.3 points).
“It’s great that we are seeing an overall pick up in women’s financial progress and gender equality outcomes, but we need momentum and not regression in the gender gaps in employment and wages, if we are to claw our way back from the disruptions of the pandemic,” said Bianca Hartge-Hazelman, founder of the Financy Women’s Index.
The Coronavirus pandemic is largely to blame for disrupting a decade of positive momentum in gender equality progress in Australia, particularly when it comes to employment and wages.
Since March 2012, the FWX headline score had been increasing with each passing year and progress started to hit its stride from December 2017, when the FWX recorded quarter-on-quarter sustained growth helped by improved gender gaps in employment, wages, leadership, unpaid work and superannuation.
But in December 2020 the impact of the pandemic became most apparent with the Women’s Index suffering its first quarterly drop in sometime and most significant fall of 3 points on record. The FWX fell to 72 points in December 2020, from 75 points in September 2020.
Holding back economic gender equality in the June quarter has been a worsening gender pay gap which widened to 14.1 per cent in May, based on the latest Average Weekly Wages data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.
The gender divide also widened in employment with the number of monthly hours worked by men up by 2.8 per cent in June compared to 1.3 per cent for women.
“The Financy Women’s Index has shown welcome progress in the June quarter but is still down from its 2020 high and there remains a long way to go before women achieve economic equality with men,” said Dr Shane Oliver, chief economist, AMP Capital.
“The pandemic showed a path forward in enabling more flexible working, but it also had a darker side in seeing many women take on more of the tasks around the family and home. The key is to build on the positives and keep the momentum to improvement going.”
In terms of timeframes to economic gender equality, women are now closer to achieving gender equality in ASX 200 board leadership than for any other FWX indicator.
Chart 1: Timeframes to Economic Gender Equality
The FWX ASX Leadership sub-index improved to 6.2 years from 6.4 years based on the rate of annual growth over the past decade.
“But the pace of progress towards gender equality in leadership continues to slow and because of this, it is questionable if we will even achieve equality before 2030 in this area,” said Ms Hartge-Hazelman.
A widening Gender Pay Gap in May resulted in the timeframe to equality in this area increasing to 23.4 years from 22.7 last quarter.
The worst performing area of the FWX remains Unpaid Work, which stands at 59 years before equality is achieved, based on the most recent data update in the March quarter.
This timeframe is about double that seen in Employment, where the years to equality fell to 26 years in June, from 26.3 in the previous quarter.
Superannuation has an unchanged timeframe to equality at 19 years, which is an improvement on the revised 31 years as recorded in the December 2021 quarter.
The time to equality in Underemployment worsened to 16.3 years from 15 years in the March quarter and has been affected by recent volatility during the past two years relating to the pandemic.
"We’re decades away from equality and that makes me frustrated and fired up! For others feeling this same way, let these statistics be a catalyst behind driving action,” said Dr. Lili Sussman, chief strategy officer, Wisr.
“Employers should be re-evaluating how equal their processes really are. From recruitment onwards, Wisr’s processes encourage systemic change, eradicating the traditional aspects of the recruitment, promotional and remuneration processes that have kept marginalised people from excelling.”
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About the Financy Women’s Index:
The Financy Women’s Index (FWX) is a quarterly measurement of the economic progress of women and timeframes to gender equality in Australia. The FWX provides an easy to digest snapshot on gender equality across seven critical areas being education, employment, underemployment, wages, unpaid work, ASX 200 board gender diversity and wealth (superannuation.) Ultimately, the purpose of the Women’s Index is to help drive fearless discussion and action among women and men, as well as key decision makers in the public and private sectors. The Index is an independent initiative of Financy, which is a platform that helps women and organisations be part of the solution to equality. We would like to thank Wisr, InvestSMART, Deloitte Australia, the Ecstra Foundation and Tech for Good Group for supporting the production of this information. The Index is written by Financy founder Bianca Hartge-Hazelman and would not be possible without the expertise and support of the FWX Advisory Committee. Quarterly data insights are also workshopped in consultation with Deloitte Access Economics.
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