Super's rich-poor male-female gap remains unchanged
/The superannuation balances of the rich and poor, and men and women, remain largely unchanged in 12 years, the latest annual Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey shows.
The report, produced by the University of Melbourne, compares super balances across three groups in terms of which percentile they land in for ages 50-69 - the top 10 per cent, the next 40 per cent, or the bottom 50 per cent.
2002 mean superannuation balance
- Bottom 50 per cent - $1,365
- Next 40 per cent - $120,110
- Top 10 per cent - $650,619
2014 mean superannuation balance
- Bottom 50 per cent - $13,719
- Next 40 per cent - $210,798
- Top 10 per cent - $991,268
In both groups, men dominate the top 10 per cent, and represent about 55 per cent of the middle group. The point was made, however, that most men and women in this age range are partnered, so it doesn't imply that women are less well-placed than men.
So who are they?
- The top group tends to be university educated; the bottom group does not
- Between 2002 and 2014, the percentage of university qualifications in the bottom group rose from 8.8 per cent to 14.3 per cent, reflecting growth in educational attainment in those aged 50-69 (all groups rose)
- Superannuation is held by 84 per cent of households
- In 2014 the mean value across all households was $186,011, up from $112,114 in 2002, when only 76.9 per cent of households had superannuation
