Women have reported being the main breadwinner in 39.5 per cent of Australian households according to new Roy Morgan data commissioned by the National Australia Bank (NAB).
This is up 10.7 per cent since 2008, when 28.8 per cent of women identified themselves as the main household income earner.
The research looked at women who were married or in a de facto relationship and reported being the main income earner in their household.
Interestingly, the increase in the number of women identifying themselves as the main household income earner did not correlate with a fall in the number of men reporting to be the main breadwinner, which has remained at around 85 per cent.
This can be attributed to some people considering themselves to be the main income earner in their household when they are not.
NAB Business Executive General Manager Angela Mentis said: “Women are becoming more economically powerful and increasingly out-earning men, however there is still a way to go. A young woman of 25 today will still earn on average almost 50 per cent less over her lifetime than a young man of the same age.”
“The research also found the average wage of women who identify themselves as the main household income earner is still significantly lower than that of men who identify as main income earners.
“It’s vital we create an environment where female business leaders and women acting as the main breadwinner in their household are seen as the norm, not the exception.
“We are seeing more and more female entrepreneurs taking on their own businesses. NAB is committed to empowering and supporting women in business and leadership.
“We are proud to have a range of leading programs to support women in the workplace. NAB has stated targets to increase the number of women in the top three layers of our organisation.
‘Women currently represent 30 per cent of the top three management layers at NAB, and our target is to increase this to 33 per cent by the end of 2015. We are also the only major bank to undertake a gender pay equity audit to investigate possible causes or barriers to equal pay.”
