The gender gap between men and women is closing in some areas, according to the 2019 Gender Indicators publication released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
ABS Director of Household Characteristics and Social Reporting, Emily Walter, said today’s release showed some mixed outcomes for men and women.
“For example, while more women than men are enrolled in tertiary degree courses and more women have attained a Bachelor degree or above, for graduates of most fields of study females are paid less than their male counterparts,” she said
“And while most senior leadership roles in the private sector were occupied by men (82.9 per cent), for the first time the number of women in executive level positions in the public service surpassed men (51.2 per cent and 48.8 per cent respectively).”
Over the past decade, women's median superannuation balance at, or approaching, preservation age has increased at a faster rate than men, but a significant gap remains.
In 2017-18 the median superannuation balance for women aged 55-64 was $119,000 compared to $183,000 for men of the same age.
On the other hand, young women are entering the housing market at higher rates than young men.
“The data shows that 24 per cent of younger women owned their home with a mortgage in 2017-18, compared to 18 per cent of men aged 15 to 34 years.”
Differences in life expectancy for men and women are closing: women are now expected to live 4.2 years longer than men compared to 40 years ago when the life expectancy gap was 7 years.
The annual Gender Indicators publication brings together data from ABS and other official data partners to compare outcomes for women and men across a number of domains of social interest.
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