KiwiSaver and Women

The SST reports that women may be disadvantaged by KiwiSaver, as they can get penalised by time spent out of the paid workforce such as child rearing.

A perusal of PQs last month, finds this exchange:

Jackie Blue: Was any gender analysis undertaken during the design of KiwiSaver; if so, what were the main findings?

Answer Text: Although no specific gender analysis was undertaken during the design of KiwiSaver, the scheme is designed to address many of the reasons why women are relatively disadvantaged in terms of superannuation savings at present – i.e. it is a flexible, voluntary and portable saving scheme. For example, KiwiSaver is not tied to the continued employment with one employer, allowing women to continue to contribute to their saving while they stay home to raise young children and continue to benefit from the member tax credit.

Even minor items of government policy tend to get a gender analysis done.  It’s pretty amazing that something as huge as KiwiSaver did not have a gender analysis done.