By Jennifer Curtin & Yanshu Huang 

A research report prepared for the Commission for Financial Capability’s Review of Retirement Income Policy, July 2019. This review seeks to answer the following questions:

• How wide is the Gender Pension Gap in New Zealand? What is the coverage of KiwiSaver by gender? How does this compare with international trends?
• Is the Gender Pension Gap reducing (as gender pay gaps are) over time (drawing on both international and NZ data where available)? What accounts for these gaps?
• What would a cohort analysis by gender reveal (given KiwiSaver is relatively young) and will the financial wellbeing of women, relative to men, increase over time? (what do we see internationally, and what does this tell us about cohorts in New Zealand?)
• What impact does lower socio-economic status have on the gender gap (Internationally and in New Zealand)?
• What do we know about intra-household Gender Pension Gaps? What data should we be collecting to illuminate the risks of insufficient pension income for different groups of women in the future?

Drawing on international and New Zealand research the project identifies a range of
possible determinants, mechanisms and indicators that could inform future gender analysis and policy reforms aimed at eliminating the pension gender gap. This research report cuts across a number of Terms of Reference.

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