4125.0 - Gender Indicators, Australia, Feb 2016  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 23/02/2016   
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ECONOMIC SECURITY

The Economic Security section contains the following sub-topics:
  • Working population (labour force participation, employment conditions, underutilised labour, persons not in the labour force)
  • Earnings, income and economic situation (earnings, retirement income, superannuation, economic resources, financial stress)
  • Housing (Housing circumstances, including tenure and rental stress)
Detailed data for these sub-topics is available from the Downloads tab, above (see Table 1).


HIGHLIGHTS

Working population

Labour force participation
    In 2014-15, the labour force participation rate of people aged 20-74 years was 65.1% for women and 78.3% for men.

    Between 2001-02 and 2014-15, the participation rate for women aged 55-64 increased from 38.3% to 56.5%, an increase of 18.2%: the highest increase in all age groups for both men and women over this time (see Figure 1 below, and Table 1.1 via the Downloads tab for more detail).

    Graph Image for Figure 1 - Women's labour force participation by age groups, 2001-02 to 2014-15 (a)

    Footnote(s): (a) Data averaged using 12 months in the financial year. (b) See Table 1.1 for explanatory notes regarding revision of benchmarks for labour force data.

    Source(s): ABS Labour Force Survey, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0)

Employment conditions
    In 2014-15, over two in five employed women worked part time (43.8%), compared with 14.6% of employed men (see Table 1.9). This number rose to 62.2% for employed women with a child under 5 (while part-time rates for fathers of young children were just 7.7%).

    In November 2014, over one in ten employed men and one in five employed women with dependent children did not have paid leave entitlements: 11.2% of partnered men and 11.3% who were lone parents, compared with 22.5% of partnered women, and 26.4% of women who were lone parents (see Table 1.11).
Underutilised labour
    In 2014-15, 5.8% of men and 9.7% of women aged 20-74 in the labour force were underemployed; that is they wanted, and were available for, more hours of work than they currently had (see Table 1.15).

    In 2013-14, 5.8% of women aged 20-74 who were born overseas were unemployed, compared with 4.8% of women born in Australia, 5.3% of men born overseas and 5% of men born in Australia. In 2012-13, unemployment rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women were 14.4% and 14.5% respectively (see Table 7.14).
Persons not in the labour force
    Just over one in five Australian men aged 20-74 years was not in the labour force in 2014-15, compared with 34.9% of women aged 20-74. Rates changed by age for women, from just under a quarter of women aged 20-54 not in the labour force, to 85.9% of those aged 65-74. Rates for men were even more variable by age, with around 10% between the ages of 25 and 54 not in the labour force (see Figure 2 below, and Table 1.17 via the Downloads tab for more detail).

    Graph Image for Figure 2 - Not in the labour force, by age and sex, 2014-15 (a)

    Footnote(s): (a) Data averaged using 12 months in the financial year.

    Source(s): ABS Labour Force Survey, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0)


Earnings, Income and Economic situation

Earnings
    In 2014 the average female wage was 87% of the average male wage (non-managerial adult hourly ordinary time cash earnings). The median female wage was 90% of the median male wage. This gap has remained relatively steady over the past decade (see Table 1.20).
Retirement income and Superannuation
    In 2013-14, for people aged 65 years and over who were not in the labour force, a superannuation pension or annuity was the main source of income for 10.9% of women and 17.7% of men. Government pensions and allowances were the main source of income for 77.8% of women and 72.4% of men (see Table 1.24).

    Men aged 55-64 in 2013-14 had a much higher average superannuation balance than women the same age: $321,993 compared with $180,013. There was less discrepancy between men and women aged 44 years and younger but male superannuation balances were still higher in every age group (see Table 1.25).

    Just under a quarter (24.6%) of women aged 15-54 years had no superannuation, compared with 20.5% of men this age (see Table 1.26). People with a disability were more likely to have no superannuation coverage (30%) than those with no disability (22.5%). Around 32% of women born overseas had no superannuation coverage (see Table 7.26).
Low economic resource households
    In 2013-14, women were slightly more likely overall to live in low economic resource households (20.5% compared with 19.5%), in line with the long term trend. However, the proportion of men aged 35-44 living in low economic resource households increased from 19.8% in 2011-12 to 24.3% in 2013-14, the highest increase across all age groups for both males and females since 2003-04 (see Figure 3 below, and Table 1.27 for more detail).

    Graph Image for Figure 3 - Persons in low economic resource households 35-44 and all persons, by sex

    Footnote(s): (a) Income estimates from 2009–10, 2011–12 and 2013-14 are not directly comparable with estimates for 2003–04 and 2005–06 due to improvements made to measuring income.

    Source(s): ABS Survey of Income and Housing (cat. no. 6523.0)


Housing
    In 2013-14, women were a little more likely to own their own home (61.6% compared with 58.7% of men). While rates of men and women with a mortgage were similar (33.8% and 33.5% respectively), women were slightly more likely to own their home without a mortgage (28.1% compared with 25.0% of men). See Figure 4 below, and Table 1.33 via the Downloads tab for more detail.

    Graph Image for Figure 4 - Proportion who own their own home (with and without a mortgage), by age, 2013-14 (a)

    Footnote(s): (a) Excludes dependent students aged 15-24 years

    Source(s): ABS Survey of Income and Housing (cat. no. 6523.0)