Financy Women's Index
The Women’s Index measures the financial progress of Australian women and economic equality
Proudly Sponsored by
Financial inequality is a major obstacle to the progress of women, families and future generations
About Financy Women's Index
How we’re tackling Financial Inequality
Each quarter the Financy Women’s Index (FWX) measures and tracks financial progress and economic equality across seven areas that are important to the advancement of Australian women.
The data and the commentary contained in each quarterly report is designed to give individuals, media, business leaders and government timely insights into the challenges and opportunities that relate to women’s financial wellbeing in Australia.
The Index is supported by Deloitte Access Economics, which provides economic modelling and analysis to assist with the development of the Index and Reports.
Data contained in the Report is reviewed by the Women’s Index Advisory Board; Dr Shane Oliver, Danielle Wood, Simone Cheung, Roger Wilkins, Joanne Masters, Nicki Hutley and Bruce Hockman.
The Index is made possible with the support of Deloitte Australia, InvestSMART and the Ecstra Foundation.
Creative works are produced by We Are Why Pty Ltd.
Ultimately, the purpose of the Index is to help inspire women to live more courageously and confidently – to be Fearless.
Lastest Results
Are things getting financially better for women?
In terms of achieving financial gender equality, the latest Financy Women’s Index (FWX) suggests that outcomes for women have improved however it’s a cautionary tale only as the underlying data shows that the progress is not all genuine and that young women are at a particular disadvantage.
The FWX rose by 2% to 73.6 points in the September quarter from 72.2 points in June, driven by a narrowing of the gender gaps in the Employment, Underemployment and Women on Boards sub-indexes.
The most positive news came from further improvement in the number of women on ASX 200 boards which rose to 34% at the end of September before dipping to 33.9% in October.
The biggest impact to the score however came from employment figures, which shows that men have borne more of the gendered brunt of COVID-19 related job cuts during the September quarter than women, as lockdowns, namely in Victoria and New South Wales, had more of an impact on male dominated industries such as Construction during the quarter.
The data also shows that women aged under 25 years continue to be left behind with employment numbers down 17% since the start of the pandemic.
The number of monthly hours worked by women is down by 1.3% compared to December 2019 and is down by 2.4% for men over the same period, suggesting that whilst the pandemic has had a negative impact on women, men have fared slightly worse.
Female workforce participation fell to a 12-month low in the quarter and the female Underemployment rate rose to a 9-month high and remains above the male Underemployment rate.
Key Results
- The Financy Women’s Index (FWX) rose 2% in the September quarter to 73.6 points helped by a closing of the gender gaps in the underemployment rate, monthly hours worked and ASX 200 boards.
- While the result is an improvement on the June quarter, it’s not genuine progress for women as male outcomes deteriorated faster than female.
- Women under 25 years remain the hardest hit from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour force.
- The FWX is up 6% in the 24-months to September 2021 despite being down 0.1% year-on-year.
- It will now take 29.5 years for women to achieve in the paid workforce and 101 years in unpaid work.
Financy Women’s Index by Quarter
Financy Woman’s Index by Year
Years to Economic gender equality
The timeframe to achieving total gender equality in Australia remains at 101 years based on the worst-performing sub-index, unpaid work.
Sponsors
Partners
Join to get Full Insights
FWX ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Meet the FWX
Advisory Committee
The Financy Women’s Index is supported by an Advisory Committee, who believe in the importance of measuring women’s progress to financial equality. The Committee meets regularly to discuss the data findings and the best way forward for the Index to ensure it is as reliable and informative as possible.
Simone Cheung
Partner in Deloitte Access Economics and leads the Health Economics and Social Policy team in NSW
Bruce Hockman
former Chief Economist of the Statistical Services Group at the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Danielle Wood
CEO of the Grattan Institute
Prof Roger Wilkins
Deputy Director of the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic & Social Research at the University of Melbourne
Joanne Masters
Chief economist for EY Oceania region
