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Women and Retirement Incomes in Australia: A Review

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  • THERESE JEFFERSON

Abstract

More than 60 per cent of age pensioners in Australia are women. Although public policy encourages private saving for retirement through compulsory superannuation, projections of women's superannuation accumulations predict that women will continue to rely heavily on government and private transfers in retirement. This review synthesises the outcomes from existing research to show that expectations about the level and source of women's retirement incomes are clearly linked with low earnings. This occurs in combination with both attitudinal and institutional barriers to active retirement planning.

Suggested Citation

  • Therese Jefferson, 2005. "Women and Retirement Incomes in Australia: A Review," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 81(254), pages 273-291, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecorec:v:81:y:2005:i:254:p:273-291
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4932.2005.00261.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Anup K. Basu & Michael E. Drew, 2009. "The Case for Gender‐Sensitive Superannuation Plan Design," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 42(2), pages 177-189, June.
    2. Therese Jefferson, 2007. "Discussing Retirement: Insights from a Qualitative Research Project," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 10(2), pages 129-145.
    3. Catherine Weiss & Debra Parkinson & Alyssa Duncan, 2015. "Living Longer on Less," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(3), pages 21582440155, July.
    4. David Laibson, 1997. "Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(2), pages 443-478.
    5. Andrew Worthington, 2008. "Knowledge and Perceptions of Superannuation in Australia," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 349-368, September.
    6. Philip Taylor & Catherine Earl & Christopher McLoughlin, 2016. "Contractual Arrangements and the Retirement Intentions of Women in Australia," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 19(3), pages 175-195.
    7. Siobhan Austen & Rachel Ong & Sherry Bawa & Therese Jefferson, 2013. "Trends in the Gender Wealth Gap Among Single Households in Australia, 2002-2010," Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Working Paper series WP1308, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School.
    8. Siobhan Austen & Rachel Ong & Sherry Bawa & Therese Jefferson, 2015. "Exploring recent increases in the gender wealth gap among Australia’s single households," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 26(1), pages 3-28, March.
    9. Siobhan Austen & Rhonda Sharp, 2007. "The 2006 Federal Budget: A Gender Analysis of the Superannuation Taxation Concessions," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 10(2), pages 61-77.
    10. Marilyn Clark-Murphy & Craig P. Speelman, 2007. "Decision Making Clusters in Retirement Savings: Preliminary Findings," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 10(2), pages 115-127.
    11. Munyambonera, Ezra & Katunze, Miriam & Munu, Martin Luther & Sserunjogi, Brian, 2018. "Expanding the Pension Sector in Uganda," Research Series 275661, Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC).
    12. Warren, Diana A., 2015. "Retirement decisions of couples in Australia: The impact of spousal characteristics and preferences," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 149-162.
    13. John Rodwell & Thomas Hendry & Dianne Johnson, 2022. "A Parsimonious Taxonomy of The Newly Retired: Spousal and Disability Combinations Shape Part or Complete Retirement," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-13, October.
    14. Florian Gerth & Katia Lopez & Krishna Reddy & Vikash Ramiah & Damien Wallace & Glenn Muschert & Alex Frino & Leonie Jooste, 2021. "The Behavioural Aspects of Financial Literacy," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, August.

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