Wealth equity for women can be achieved. Here’s how

Gender wealth equity is equal accumulated wealth at the end of a working career for men and women who commence their career with similar roles, skills and pay. Women are disproportionately affected by pay gaps and delayed career trajectories, family responsibilities and various life events (e.g. divorce and widowhood), and as a result tend to accumulate less wealth than men.

It’s increasingly clear that these differences have far-reaching repercussions for individuals, organizations as well as society as a whole. Despite an increased focus from business leaders on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) – and gender inequity in particular – gender wealth inequity has not been widely examined or exposed.

Gender inequity is often seen through a single lens, focused on pay, career, pensions and longevity, or workforce representation. The reality is that the issue of gender inequity, and its causes and effects, are multidimensional and should be addressed as such. Over a career lifetime, women are presented with varying professional and personal challenges from early career to late career.

By focusing on wealth, we can consider the effects of many intermingled inequities, including pay, career progression, financial literacy and events that occur during a working lifetime. And we can measure through one metric – accumulated wealth at retirement. This allows us to shine a light on a critical, overlooked and under-researched aspect of gender inequity.

The new global Wealth Equity Index from WTW, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, explores the wealth accrued over the working lifetime of women in 39 markets. The index highlights the intermingled factors that drive gender wealth disparities for women relative to men.

The study found that at the end of a working career, women globally are expected to have on average only 74% of the wealth that men have. There’s significant variation across markets and regions but while the cultures, social structures and infrastructures examined are diverse, the underlying drivers of wealth disparity are the same.

These primary drivers contributing to gender-based wealth disparity include gender pay gaps, delayed career trajectories, family responsibilities (e.g. child and elder care) and differences in financial literacy.

It is imperative that actions to champion gender equity broaden to look at economic wealth at the end of women’s working careers. There are many positive actions that can be taken by employers, governments and individuals.

There are many ways to address gender wealth equity but it requires the collective and focused effort of private and public players, including not only employers but also governments and public bodies, society at large and individuals who can drive positive change.