Retirement Outcomes for Female Primary Carers in Australia: A Literature Review

Due to an ageing population, encouraging self-funded retirement has been a key goal of Australian government policy for the last three decades. However, the current model of superannuation—funded primarily by the Superannuation Guarantee (SG)—leaves significant segments of the Australian population at a disadvantage. These segments include groups of individuals who do not participate in the paid workforce due to their performance of non-paid work. This research paper examines the disadvantage experienced by female primary carers in Australia under the current model of superannuation. The body of literature on superannuation has identified that a significant proportion of working age women take time out of the workforce to provide care and receive a minimal amount of assistance from the government and that this has a detrimental effect on their retirement outcomes. However, this paper identifies a gap in the existing literature as it does not consider the financial consequences in retirement for women who must care for their parents. In particular, this paper identifies the disadvantage experienced by those women who simultaneously, or sequentially, ‘sandwich’ caring for their parents with raising children.