The average KiwiSaver balance for women is 20 per cent behind that of men. Photo / File
The average KiwiSaver balance for women is 20 per cent behind that of men. Photo / File
Women are lagging behind when it comes to KiwiSaver - with new research revealing a 20 per cent gap between the sexes.
While more women than men are signed up to the savings scheme, women on average have a balance of $27,061 compared to $32,553 for men, according to researchby Melville Jessup Weaver on behalf of Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission.
And that gap widens the older women get with the gap hitting 30 per cent for those in their 40s and to 32 per cent for those in their 50s.
Dr Suzy Morrissey, policy director at the Retirement Commission, said the KiwiSaver gender gap was representative of the labour market.
"It is less about the KiwiSaver policy settings than it is about the labour market. Many people are contributing to their KiwiSaver as a percentage of their salary matched by their employer.
Morrissey said changing the gender gap for KiwiSaver may require change in how we see women in paid employment.
Dr Suzy Morrissey, director of policy at the Retirement Commission. Photo / Supplied
Susan St John, director of the Retirement Policy and Research Centre at the University of Auckland, said she was not surprised by the gap and it had wanted to see data on median balances.
The paper only includes average balances and St John said it was likely that median figures would show an even bigger gap.
"Where it is really important is at the age of 65 and we are not seeing the worst of it yet."
KiwiSaver has only been around 14 years and she predicted the gap would get much worse, pointing to the gap in Australia where its scheme has been around a lot longer.
"The difference between the median for women and the median for men in Australia at 65 [is really big]."
She said the other point to note was the figures were only for those people in KiwiSaver.
"If you took the whole population of those particular age brackets, the ones that were not in KiwiSaver because they are out of work with family or other things then the median for women would look lower again."
St John said she would like to see the $1000 kickstart brought back because savers got it when they joined the scheme, which meant it could compound and also gave a signal that being in KiwiSaver was a good thing.
"It would be good for women and encourage women to be in it. When that was abolished there was no gender analysis done on it at all."
She said KiwiSaver was built on the traditional male model of working 40 years for the same employer and that was no longer the situation for women - and for a lot of men.
"Those non-traditional patterns of work are not accommodated in the way that KiwiSaver is structured and particularly I would argue a man who has that traditional pattern of work can have access to the subsidy from the government for 40 years."
She said women often had years out of the workforce to care for children and elderly parents and often only came back part-time. Far more women worked part-time than men and could only access the government subsidy up to the age 65.
St John said the government subsidy of up to $521 a year should be accessible for the same period of time for all members.
And she said employer contributions could also be changed so they had to be paid even if a member didn't contribute.
"Why not make it if you are in KiwiSaver regardless of whether you are contributing that the employer has to pay that 3 per cent instead of it being hung out as an incentive?"
What can women do to catch up?
Financial adviser Liz Koh said women could help themselves by making sure they were in the right type of fund.
"They have got a bit of catching up to do so does that mean they need to be stepping more into the growth side of things? Depending on their timeframe of course, they may have to take a little bit more risk and manage their investment timeframe to do some catch-up."
She also advised women to look at their contribution rate and back themselves when it came to work.
"Can you get a higher-paying job? Can you put yourself up for a promotion?
"If you have to step out of the workforce for a while can you keep your KiwiSaver contributions ticking along at a minimum rate? The fact you are on maternity leave doesn't mean you have to opt out of KiwiSaver completely."
She said women could also build wealth in other ways.
"Getting rid of your mortgage debt, especially in this environment of rising interest rates, is a very sensible thing to do."
The research also found 40 per cent of those in KiwiSaver had a balance of under $10k.
That was less of a concern for younger savers, but Morrissey said one in five 50- to 65-year-olds also had less than $10k.
"That is not very much money but you do have to bear in mind that KiwiSaver is only 14 years old. Over time we would expect to see everyone's balances lift as they use it over their whole life."
She said people may also have savings outside of KiwiSaver, which would add to their retirement income.
"This KiwiSaver data provides a part of people's retirement picture but it is not telling the whole story."
It didn't answer the question of whether someone owned their own home or not and KiwiSaver members could also have savings in other places such as managed funds or other investments.
But she said the low balances underlined the importance of having New Zealand Superannuation.
"It just reinforces the fact that it is the foundation of the retirement income system and we are really reliant on that, especially single people."
She said 40 per cent of single people over 65 only had NZ Super to live off.
"Because our ability to save is so related to the labour market NZ super will always be important, especially for women if they have taken time out for kids."
