ebl FINANCE MANAGEMENT
Nothing To Celebrate’ EVEN AS GENDER GAP NARROWS BY SOME MEASURES The 10X Investments South African Retirement Reality Report 2021 (RRR21) shows that the gender gap in retirement preparedness was narrowing by at least one measure but, overall, there is nothing to celebrate, says Ishani Khoosal-Kala, 10X's Head of Employee Benefits, Corporate Distribution. “The odd small change in the size of the gap reflects a deterioration in the status quo for men rather than an improvement for women.” “Things are looking uniformly bleak for both men and women on almost all measures,” she said, with “the pandemic adding to an extremely challenging financial situation for many South Africans”.
described themselves as doing very well financially (4% compared with 2%), this year, the gap has closed but only because the proportion of men declined to 2% (where it has remained for women).
The RRR21 was released on October 4. 10X's fourth annual report is based on findings of the 2021 Brand Atlas Survey, which tracks the lifestyles of 15 million economically active South Africans (those living in house-holds with a monthly income of more than R8,000). The data are weighted to reflect the profile of this group as defined by Unisa's Bureau of Marketing Research in their 2019 Household Income and Expenditure report.
Khoosal-Kala said: “The report confirms what most South Africans know: that women are worse off than their male compatriots according to almost all measures.”
In the survey, 80% of men reported that were not doing well financially or were unsure how they were doing, compared with 79% of women. Compared to last year, the deterioration for men (2020: 69%) was more severe than for women (75%). The 11-percentage point decline for men underlines the difficult economic conditions in South Africa. “So you see the gap is narrowing on some measures, but for the wrong reason,” said KhoosalKala. Whereas last year twice as many men as women
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The RRR21 notes: “The gender disadvantage starts at birth, is often magnified through education and peaks during working life (more so if a woman's career is interrupted by pregnancy and the raising of children). All these inequalities compound and carry over into retirement.” The report points to various statistics from Statistics SA, such as girls being more likely than boys (17,1% versus 0,3%) to offer “family commitment” as a reason for not attending school, and women earning approximately 30% less than their male counterparts on average. It also notes that women have a higher life expectancy than men, meaning they require a relatively bigger retirement savings pot than their male counterparts.
