The issue of women living in poverty doesn’t often evoke imagery of suburban Australia. But gender pay inequality is putting hundreds of thousands of Australian women at poverty-risk in retirement, according to a report released by Oxfam this week.
It is a reality that more women than men continue to take time out of the workplace to raise their families. And it goes without saying that this impacts their career momentum and remuneration.
We need to create a level playing field for women in the workforce and we need to address the unique financial challenges faced by women. The retirement savings gap between women and men is 40%.
It is not up to women alone to ‘step-up’ on an individual basis. We can’t leave it to government to solve for us. Business needs to take practical action to help address the issue.
The financial services industry has a unique interest in finding solutions. Not only do we collectively employ more than a hundred thousand Australians, we are the custodian of this half of the population’s financial health.
NAB and the Financial Services Union recently conducted gender pay equity audit and found that while men and women are paid equitably for doing ‘like for like’ work, the gender pay gap is still 29 per cent. Women receive less in incentives, primarily as a result of lower representation in senior roles and shorter average tenure.
We are working to close the gap – and a number of initiatives were identified and have been introduced as a result of the audit. Those returning from parental leave now receive a remuneration review to ensure they haven’t fallen behind peers in the time they’ve been away.
Up to 40 weeks of unpaid primary carers leave from NAB now includes continued superannuation payments – and is recognised for long service leave accrual.
Pleasingly, the return to work rate of employees on primary carer’s leave has increased from 65% in 2006 to over 80%.
We are driving incremental change but success will lie in changing the culture of business.
We will never achieve gender pay equity if executive ranks stay unbalanced. And we won’t see more female executives until we accept that a modern workplace needs to change.
Despite extensive research showing that more women in leadership positions leads to better business performance – business leaders are finding it difficult to shift the dial.
I believe that diversity is not just a numbers game. The human element is so important and accordingly, we need to focus on building a culture of inclusion, where it feels okay to challenge the status quo.
Before I joined the banking industry, I have worked in the traditionally male dominated environments of law, mining, the chemicals and manufacturing industries and what makes a difference is not the just the numbers of women within the organisation but the attitudes and practices within the workplace. Inclusion is vital to encouraging diversity.
I hope that we can continue to make progress. I hope that talented women want to join our ranks and I hope that we can help them succeed in their careers.
But most of all, I hope that women feel comfortable walking in to a bank and asking for help with their money. That we acknowledge the unique challenges they face in life – and that we give them sound help and guidance.