Australian women are stressed about money, and with good reason

ANXIETY is endemic among young Australian women, and there’s a $123.4 billion reason why.

If you’re anxious, this could be why

ANXIOUS, stressed and broke: that’s the reality of being a young Australian woman in 2016, new research shows.

And if you’re living from week to week assuming a pay rise down the track will save you, you could be in for a rude awakening.

Tomorrow is International Women’s Day, and reports commissioned by two major banks paints a grim picture of life as a contemporary woman.

NAB’s annual survey of wellbeing found that young women aged 18 to 29 were “by far the most anxious” Australians, with financial worry one of the key factors along with traumatic events like domestic abuse.

And things are unlikely to get much better for these twenty-somethings, with the Westpac International Women’s Day Report showing that women’s salaries peak at age 31 — compared to men, who peak at 39.

After starting their careers earning less than their male peers, then taking another hit for every round of maternity leave, these women are faced with a pretty bleak financial outlook.

If they were to earn the same wages as men, Westpac’s analysis shows, they would earn an extra $123.4 billion a year. That’s if they both increased their participation in the work force, and achieved equal pay.

More than half a century later, and it’s still a man’s world.

But Australian women earn 12 per cent less than their male peers in their first full time job, and for most of them the gap never closes.

The average woman’s salary drops three per cent after a career break and most come back to reduced hours, working 17 per cent fewer hours a week.

The report found that women were more likely to take parental leave than men, reducing their lifetime earnings by an average of 12 per cent.

By contract, those women who took leave for educational purposes boosted their salaries by an average $268,538, or 18 per cent.

The revelations come as Australia falls behind other developed nations in a key ranking of female economic empowerment.

The nation has slipped back to pre-2007 levels in Price Waterhouse Coopers’ annual Women in Work index, dropping from 17th to 20th position.

Ainslie van Onselen, Westpac’s director of women’s markets, inclusion and diversity, framed the results as a “$100 billion opportunity”, arguing that pay parity would give the economy a boost.

“Mobilising women to their full potential in the workplace will not only help achieve gender parity but would provide a massive boost to the wider economy, impacting measures such as economic growth, investment, savings and national wealth,” Ms van Onselen said.

Young women are struggling to get ahead. Picture: Jessica Miglio/HBO

“We need to take every opportunity to have a consistent dialogue with business leaders, government, community and our families about the role we all need to play to bridge this gap. We’ve got the numbers; we see the opportunity, now let’s start to accelerate the outcome.”

She said giving women choice and flexibility was essential, whether that meant working part time, full time or spending part of the week working from home.

Westpac has a training and mentoring program to support new mothers, which has resulted in 93 per cent of our employees returning to work at the bank after maternity leave.

The incidence of women opting to stay at home after having children contributes to lower overall employment levels, with 740,282 less women than men in the workforce at the time of the 2011 census.

Women are also less likely to ask for a raise, with 60 per cent never having done so — compared with 46 per cent of men.

Those who did asked for $1,816.83 less than men, and were more likely to get the amount they asked for ($3,598.24), which some would regard as a telltale sign of shooting too low in a negotiation.

Susan Price, Price Waterhouse Coopers’ national practice leader of diversity and inclusion, said the decline in Australia’s ranking and index was because “Australia is stagnating while other nations are making progress.”

The PwC Women in Work Index is a weighted average of measures including equality of earnings, the ability of women to access employment opportunities and job security.

The index shows there has been no improvement in the gender wage gap, or increase in female fulltime employment in Australia and points to the lack of access to affordable childcare as a key barrier holding women back.

HOW TO BOOST YOUR FINANCES

1. SHARE THE LOAD

Sharing the primary caregiver role with your partner can allow you to return to work sooner and continue to progress your career. Make the right decision for you and your family; in some cases it may make more sense for your partner to be the primary care giver.

A period of time during which a person chooses not to work (in paid employment) for a minimum period of three months.

2. PLAN FOR A CAREER BREAK

Career breaks can be a great time to work out your next move, invest in education or start a family. Plan them in advance and budget accordingly and honestly. For a budget to work you need to be honest with yourself and to look at all money going in and out. Set aside a couple of minutes each day to think about your finances, check in on your spending to identify any red flags and how you are tracking.

3. ASK FOR THAT PAY RISE

At your next performance review, or meeting with your manager, why not start salary negotiations or a discussion about what opportunities there are for a pay increase. Arming yourself with evidence, particularly measurable figures will help support your case.

4. LOOK TO THE FUTURE

The superannuation gap for women is significant, so get organised early and set yourself up. Making additional contributions to your superannuation will help bolster your account and could make a huge difference when it comes to retirement.

Money tips are courtesy of Westpac’s Ainslie van Onselen.

[e-mail]