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Irish Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
How to make the most of your financial power at every life and career stage
Women are financially disadvantaged throughout their lives. From paying the 'pink tax' – more for similar clothing and toiletries compared to men – to the gender pay gap , pensions and inheritance gaps, it's much harder for women to attain and maintain personal wealth. Add in a lack of financial education specifically addressing women's life stages and its earning peaks and troughs , and it's a particularly hard circle to square. The problem has wider negative economic, social and cultural impacts, too. Women live longer and suffer from more chronic disease and pain, so they need a bigger pension pot to ensure their continued financial independence. Women who get divorced or are single parents are more likely to live in poverty and be dependent on the State for support. Europe is working to address these significant financial barriers. READ MORE The European Union acknowledges that gender equality remains a challenge across member states, with women still earning 12.7 per cent less than men and facing greater employment gaps. This particularly applies to mothers. While more women are graduating from university, many continue to encounter barriers such as unpaid labour, gender discrimination and gender-based violence. The EU's 2024 Gender Equality Index highlights slow and uneven progress and it stresses that gender inequality costs the EU an estimated €370 billion a year. The EU's Roadmap on Gender Equality addresses crucial issues such as work/life balance, equal employment opportunities, economic empowerment, quality education, access to healthcare and freedom from gender-based violence. It also acknowledges that gender inequality extends beyond the workplace, with global crises disproportionately affecting women's mental and physical health. Know your numbers Women are likely to have, and to make, less money than men. This deeply embedded structural inequality won't be solved overnight, so what steps do you need to take to make the most of your income at every stage of life and reduce your risk of future financial insecurity? As with most things, knowledge is power, so know your numbers and examine the gaps and potential pitfalls first. Women's income levels peak much earlier than men's – in their 30s – according to the Central Statistics Office. Men continue to increase their earnings over time while women's earnings stagnate. In 2022, the highest median annual earnings for women was in the 30-39 year age bracket (€42,350). The age group with the highest median annual earnings for men was 40-49 at €52,362. This was 23.8 per cent greater than the earnings for women in that age group (€42,297). The pensions gap between men and women is 36 per cent, Irish Life says. Women have to work eight years longer than men to have the same pension, yet their working lives are often shortened by caring responsibilities and they are in any case generally paid less. Where else can you find money to make up the shortfall? If you think a potential inheritance might help with your financial future, you need to think again. Recent research, Shaping Women's Fortunes: Inheritance and Gender Disparities by Louisa Roos and Naomi Crowther at Trinity College Dublin , found that inheritance should not be considered an effective tool to reduce gender inequality as it makes no permanent difference to gender wealth gaps. The economists compared women's and men's wealth and income pre and post inheritance using data from Sweden. They found inheritance does not create a balance between women and men's wealth in the longer term. Structural barriers to wealth accumulation had accrued over the woman's life cycle and, when women received an inheritance, they were more likely to invest the money conservatively, so they saw little capital growth. Moreover, women appeared to work less and care more for others after receiving an inheritance, so wage income reduced. Develop a freedom strategy Deirdre McCarthy, founder of Flit female finance, says many elements are needed to ensure a good financial outcome as women start out with less. As a single parent for 20 years, who also navigated her finances in the 'squeezed middle', even though she was earning well, she realised that the key was understanding her income as well as the entitlements, benefits, grants and tax refunds available. That inspired her to start her business and to help women come up with a plan for every stage of their life. Women tend to focus on immediate needs such as budgeting for groceries, saving for a school trip or paying the monthly bills, 'but we need to prioritise ourselves and not feel guilty about creating a longer-term strategy for our own financial future. Don't be the bottom of the list'. Her top tips are to be proactive and strategic about saving and about spending. Although it might seem a long way off, it's important to actively monitor and be involved in your pension. 'Choose a higher risk level for your pension when you're younger. Regularly check in on your pension and interact with your adviser. Ensure your pensions investments are aligned with your values and ethics,' she says. 'Be prepared to complain especially around transparency of fees and costs. Your annual pension report should clearly state all charges, commissions, fees, admin fees and fund related charges. 'Invest in assets, property and your education, and look to maximise the help you can get from others to do it. Make the most of government schemes (insulate your house, help with elderly parents, educational grants) that can make it happen. 'Know your tax credits: renters tax credit is now €1,000 per person or €2,000 for a couple, yet many people don't claim it.' 'Try to take a broad perspective on spending: you don't have to own something or buy it new to get use of it. Do you need a holiday home or are you better off renting one a few times a year? Same with a car. Buying an older car is better value and it's 65 per cent of the price.' One handy way to get a quick handle on your investments or debts is called the rule of 72, McCarthy says. This applies to cases of compound interest. 'Whatever net interest rate you're paying on a debt or gaining on an investment, divide it into 72. If you're making 4 per cent a year on an investment after charges then your investment would double in 18 years. At 6 per cent it will double in 12 years,' she says. 'It's the same with paying a debt of 6 per cent versus 8 per cent. If you've never made a repayment, the debt will also double in that time.' It's a good way to see how very small changes in percentages over time make a big difference. 'Women take a back seat on earnings as soon as kids arrive and they never recover psychologically or financially. The message is that work at home is worth less, so therefore they undervalue their work and their needs,' McCarthy says. She urges women to value themselves and plan for the future. As with your choice of life partner, your choice of employer is key. Ensure your employers' benefits are aligned to a woman's needs over time and be proactive about salary negotiations and proper pay reviews. 'There's also the upcoming EU pay transparency directive: call out any pay discrepancies and negotiate a raise. Ask, 'How do I get to the higher earnings level?' The employer in theory is obliged to tell you.' Margaret E Ward is chief executive of Clear Eye, a leadership consultancy. margaret@
RNZ News
28-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
One in six New Zealanders experienced discrimination last year
A 2022 rally in Auckland protesting against Asian discrimination. Photo: RNZ / Kate Gregan About one in six New Zealanders experienced discrimination in 2024 according to data collected for the annual report of the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey (NZCVS). The report explores data from the NZCVS key results 2024 (Cycle 7) report, based on interviews with New Zealanders conducted between October 2023 and October 2024. Seventeen percent of adults reported experiencing discrimination, with racial discrimination being the most common, reported by 11 percent of adults. Discrimination by gender and age were both next, each reported by five percent of adults. Around half of sexual assault victims (49 percent) thought that their victimisation was driven by discrimination towards gender or sex. Around a fifth of victims of threats and harassment (20 percent) thought their victimisation was driven by racial discrimination. Sector insights general manager at the Ministry of Justice Rebecca Parish said from 2018 to 2024, nine percent of Asian victims felt their victimisation was due to racial discrimination, three times higher than the proportion of European victims. "Research in the United States and Canada has also reported higher rates of discrimination against Asian people since the Covid-19 pandemic." People from different population groups reported varying experiences of discrimination. In 2024, 21 percent of women reported experiencing some form of discrimination, four percentage points higher than the New Zealand average, and compared with 13 percent of men. Māori and Chinese adults are more likely to report experiencing discrimination. Twenty-two percent of Māori adults reported discrimination, but the number was even higher for Chinese adults at 28 percent. Bisexual adults were almost twice as likely to report experiencing discrimination compared to the New Zealand average (30 percent to 17 percent). Discrimination within the criminal justice system was reported by seven percent of adults over their lifetime. Rates were significantly higher among Māori (18 percent) and Pacific peoples (12 percent). In 2024, nearly half of New Zealand adults (47 percent) came into contact with the criminal justice system, for reasons ranging from police vehicle stops (36 percent) to attending jury service (three percent). Most people who came into contact with the criminal justice system (67 percent) had a high level of satisfaction with the system but only 40 percent had high trust, which was lower than the New Zealand average (45 percent). "Contact with the criminal justice system is just one of many factors that influence a person's trust in the system. Perceptions of fairness, effectiveness, and bias within the criminal justice system can all influence trust outside of direct contact with the system. Studies with victims in other countries have also found low trust among victims of crime who have been through criminal proceedings," Parish said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
The Independent
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Islamist protests threaten to derail women's rights reforms in Bangladesh
Radical religious leaders in Bangladesh have once again pitted Islam against women amid growing concern over their rights in the embattled South Asian country. Nearly 20,000 men gathered in Dhaka earlier in May to protest against the Women's Affairs Reform Commission, installed by the interim government to ensure equal rights for women. Mahfuzul Haque, leader of Hefazat-e-Islam, an Islamist group which had called the protest, urged the interim rulers to abandon what he called a "suicidal concept" of pluralism and asked to protect the religious practices of believers in the majority Muslim nation. Failing to do so, he threatened, would have severe consequences. Mohammad Shihab Uddin, leader of a women's madrassa, or religious school, said "men and women can never be equal'. The Quran, he told news agency AFP, outlined specific codes of life for both genders. "There is no way we can go beyond that.' The commission, established last November under activist Shireen Parveen Haque, has given 433 recommendations for reducing, if not ending, gender-based discrimination in the country. Key recommendations include giving women equal inheritance rights, increasing parliamentary seats for them, criminalising marital rape, and protecting the rights of sex workers. The Islamist group has opposed the commission's use of terms like " gender equality", "gender discrimination" and "third gender" while arguing that women's social progress should not be dictated by Western values. The employment of terms such as "inclusion" by the commission, the group has argued, could lead to a "destructive, anti-religious pro-homosexual society", the Daily Star reported. The protesters threatened to reject any proposal they perceived to be anti-Islamic in a country with 92 per cent Muslim population. The weekend rally comes amid a sharp rise in violence and discrimination against women as the fragile nation recovers from last year's mass protests that ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina. 'We are worried about the increased visibility and the amount of space the right-wing has found after last year's protest,' Dr Maleka Banu, secretary general of the Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, the country's largest women's organisation, said. The Islamists were using their increased visibility since the agitation to create an environment of fear so that women were confined to their homes, Dr Banu told The Independent. Last year, Bangladesh witnessed a student agitation snowball into a bloody revolution against Ms Hasina 's Awami League government. It forced Ms Hasina to flee to India on a helicopter as an angry mob marched towards the presidential palace. The power vacuum was quickly filled by a caretaker government under Hasina critic and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who returned to the country to be named interim leader. "We are concerned about the lack of public condemnation from the political parties and the interim government," Dr Banu said. "Does the government think these rallies will play a part in changing public policy?" Ms Hasina's government, autocratic and tainted with allegations of corruption and human rights abuses, was known to block Islamist movements. The agitation that caused her ouster saw widespread participation of women armed with sticks and stones who clashed with the police. "Women who took part in the anti-discrimination movement are realising that they are getting sidelined," Dr Banu said. A 21-year-old Dhaka University student who spent weeks organising and demonstrating against Ms Hasina with male fellow students agreed with Dr Banu, calling for "anti-discrimination". Now, she said, fear gripped her whenever she stepped out due to the shrinking space for women. 'There are constant efforts to control women, and the Islamists are at the forefront of it,' the student, who asked not to be named for reasons of safety, told The Independent. 'It is a shame that the government has been notoriously silent so far and has allowed these radicals to make their voices heard and the lawlessness just adds to the crisis. Can you imagine such a revolution without the participation of women Bangladesh has resisted for long. They must not be allowed to thrive." Ms Haque, chair of the women's commission, earlier said women's participation in the agitation was 'unprecedented and so invigorating and so inspiring'. 'The disappointing part is that once it was all over, the women disappeared,' she told the American magazine Foreign Policy. ' They were not to be seen in any serious decision-making.' After Ms Hasina fled, law and order collapsed in Bangladesh as police refused to return to the streets, citing targeted violence. Although the law enforcement apparatus limped back to work after some days, the situation remained grim, with reports of women being publicly humiliated because of their clothes, appearances and movements. It hasn't gotten any better since. "Women are being harassed in public spaces and hatred is being spread through social media. Our concern is that the state of lawlessness is making women panic," Dr Banu said. 'There is so much animosity toward women in this country that they are unable to freely access public space.' The shift in stance was noted when a portrait of one of the first feminists in undivided India, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, was defaced with ink in December last year. Social media videos purportedly showed conservatives exploiting the unstable law and order situation to morally police women over their choice of clothes. In another incident, men were seen thrashing an effigy of what seemed to be a woman dressed in a saree resembling the ousted prime minister. In March this year, at least 442 women and girls were subjected to various forms of violence, including rape, murder, and harassment, Mahila Parishad said. In Bangladesh, women make up a substantial section of the labour force, which has been credited with lifting the economy out of a rut. Though their participation in the labour force increased to 42.7 per cent in 2022, it was largely confined to the unorganised sector, including the garments industry. The sector employs about four million people, mostly women, and contributes over 10 per cent of the nation's GDP. "Are those protesting prepared to deal with the collapse of the economy if women's participation is suddenly removed, given how much they are being pushed to the confinement of home,' said Dr Banu. She said, historically, 'whenever we tried to raise our voices with demands of equality, the right wing has pushed back'. 'In the past, we have seen the government rolling back the measures swiftly after the protests in fear of losing votes. No government has taken concrete steps. They always bow down in front of the right-wing and forget women's rights," she complained. At least 67 rights groups have jointly condemned the derogatory remarks made by the Islamist group as well as the acts of aggression surrounding the recommendations of the Women's Affairs Reform Commission. The National Citizens' Party, formed by members of the student-led agitation following Ms Hasina's ouster, said it "deeply understands women's freedom, right to expression, their struggle in society". "We believe it is necessary to keep the door open for constructive discussions with all representative stakeholders on the issues where disagreements have arisen," it said, according to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. Hefazat-e-Islam has threatened to hold mass rallies on 23 May if its demands are not fulfilled by the Yunus administration.
RNZ News
07-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
The human face of pay equity
The Government has rushed through changes to the Equal Pay Act that will make it harder for workers to make claims of unfair pay based on gender discrimination They claim it save billions. Hawkes Bay care worker Crissie Chaplin got in touch with the panel to tell us how pay equity changed her life... Workplace Relations minister Brooke van Velden. Photo: Screenshot
