Gender Equality in Retirement Housing

This month RAAG members discussed the recently released National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality Discussion Paper to talk about how gender inequality has impacted people, especially older women living in different forms of retirement housing.

The members that attended this meeting were all women, and discussed the inequality they experienced in their personal and professional lives and how that has impacted their housing and financial situations as they have aged.

Discussion revolved around superannuation, career glass ceilings, pay differences, lack of childcare, perceptions of men and women in society and how care and caring roles in the home and at work are not acknowledged or valued.

Members relayed stories of never being promoted but repeatedly having to train new male managers in the job they could do better, of being told “you don’t need superannuation because you have a husband to look after you“, and of quitting a job and finding out a man had been hired immediately after at a higher rate.

The group all agreed this is something they do not want another generation of women to go through, but also wanted to highlight the fact that older women who have lived through superannuation not existing, or not being permitted to them in their working lives need to not be forgotten in future policy changes. True gender equality cannot be ageist.

“The saying was, one for mum one for dad and one for the country – and now those women are suffering the consequences in their retirement.”

– RAAG Member

If you want to read or download the summary, it is attached as a PDF below. Consultation is open unitl April 19th! You can have your say HERE.