Gig economy sucking super savings dry
By Ally Selby
It’s causing everyday Aussies to retire with much less, forcing the country’s taxpayers to carry the added costs, according to a Treasury submission by the Actuaries Institute. I
n a paper submitted to the Treasury’s Retirement Income Review Panel, the Institute warned of the new risks to Australia’s superannuation system.
“The gig economy… creates a new set of problems with respect to the superannuation guarantee (SG) system,” it said.
“It provides people with different types of jobs than full-time positions. They may provide flexibility, etc. but may not always provide sufficient total income for their needs, let alone any savings for retirement.
“This means that taxpayers will need to support the lower paid or gig workers who will fall back onto the age pension system to a greater degree than otherwise.”
The submission warned the aging population would worsen the problem. “As a growing part of the workforce, if the gig economy workers do not participate in the SG system, the percentage of the population covered by compulsory superannuation will reduce,” it warned.
“This problem will be exacerbated by the falling ratio of workers to retirees.”
Read more @Financial Standard
