The role of gender in wealth equity
Gender inequity is a long-standing issue affecting women throughout their working lives. Often gender inequity assessments are made through a single lens of pay, career, pensions or leadership representation, but the reality is that the inequity is multidimensional and should be studied as such.
New flagship research from WTW and the World Economic Forum found that there is a significant gender wealth gap between men and women at retirement. Upon retirement women globally are expected to accumulate only 74% of the wealth that men have, according to our Wealth Equity Index.
WTW’s Global Gender Wealth Equity Report explores differences in gender wealth equity across five regions worldwide. Our research illustrates that women who start their career with similar roles and pay to men will fall consistently behind their male counterparts when it comes to wealth accumulated at the end of the working career. The report analyzes reasons for the disparity – including the interlinked effects of career, family support, life events and financial literacy on wealth accumulation. We also share actions employers can take to help improve gender equity.
The Wealth Equity Index – developed in collaboration with the World Economic Forum – takes a holistic view of gender inequities across women’s lifetimes and quantifies the gender wealth gap between men and women at retirement. The index substantiates that women are at considerable disadvantage in the accumulation of wealth at the end of their career.
There has been an increasing focus on eliminating gender discrimination through the recent environmental, social and governance (ESG) awakening and corporate efforts to further diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). While these forces have helped narrow the gender pay gap and underrepresentation of women in board and leadership roles, our Global Gender Wealth Equity Report found widely varying gaps in women’s accumulated wealth at retirement by market compared to men. Among the key findings:
There is a significant variation of gender wealth equity globally by region and market, influenced in part by diversity of cultures, traditions, relative prosperity and social equality.
Our regional summaries delve into the unique pressures influencing gender wealth at a regional and local level, looking specifically at the impact of career/pay, family support, life events, and financial literacy.
Explore each region:
To instantly access all the findings from the 2022 Global Gender Wealth Equity Report and our expert analysis, please complete the form on the right.
