An industry superannuation group has found that Riverina women are "falling behind" men when it comes to their retirement savings.
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Industry Super Australia (ISA) studied Australian Taxation Office data from the 2017-18 financial year and says it found that "Riverina women's super savings are falling drastically behind NSW and the nation".
The study found "women on the cusp of retirement have a median super balance of just $149,000 in the Riverina electorate falling behind the $175,300 male median".
"Both men and women are well below the $545,000 needed for a comfortable retirement," the study stated.
"While Riverina women's balances are persistently lower than men throughout their life the gap rises to 40 per cent in their early 40s and 45 per cent in their early 50s.
"It narrows slightly in their 60s but women in the electorate of Riverina still retire with 15 per cent less than men."
ISA advocacy director Georgia Brumby said the factors that held back women's retirement savings across Australia were more pronounced in regional areas like the Riverina.
"One of the factors driving this is, of course, the gender pay gap; unfortunately women are not paid an equal wage so the amount from a percentage of that wage that goes towards superannuation is smaller," she said.
"Women are more likely to spent time out of the workforce to have children."
ISA released the study as part of an ongoing campaign to raise the guaranteed superannuation contribution from nine for 12 per cent over the next few years, with a review due in July.
Ms Brumby said if Riverina MP Michael McCormack "doesn't act now local women's savings will keep falling further behind."
"Mr McCormack has a simple choice; he can fight to deliver the promised super boost and get super paid on every dollar earned or explain to female voters why he thinks it's OK for many local women to retire into poverty," she said.
In response to the ISA's report, Mr McCormack said the superannuation balances of women retiring at the moment "reflect a majority of a working life without compulsory super at 9.5 per cent and a system created by Labor that was never built to recognise women's work patterns or the gender pay gap".
"The good news is that we have made substantial progress on the pay gap and participation gap and that work continues," Mr McCormack said.
"The Retirement Income Review found that the working-life earnings gap between men and women, rather than the retirement income system settings, is the main driver in the gender gap in superannuation balances at retirement.
"That is why the government has always focused on assisting more women into the workforce, reaching record breaking female participation in the workforce prior to COVID-19, and the lowest gender pay gap ever."
Mr McCormack questioned the ISA's benchmark of $545,000 in superannuation for a "comfortable retirement" as it reflected "a standard for the top 20 per cent of income earners".
"The $545,000 figure would be difficult for a median-income earner to achieve. A median earner working a 40-year career would need the Superannuation Guarantee rate to continue escalating to 16.5 per cent to achieve the standard," Mr McCormack said.
Mr McCormack pointed to the Retirement Income Review finding that "a rise in Superannuation Guarantee comes with a trade off with wages".
"Any consideration of a rise in the superannuation guarantee should take this into account," he said.
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