Canadian women are retiring with 78 per cent of the wealth accumulated by Canadian men, slightly better than the global average of 74 per cent, according to a new report by WTW.
In North America, it found pay gaps and delayed career progression are the primary drivers of the wealth disparity between men and women, noting the pay gap is more pronounced for women in leadership roles.
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Women in senior expert and leadership roles have less than two-thirds (62 per cent) of the accumulated wealth their male counterparts have at retirement, according to the report, which noted this gap narrows for women in frontline operational roles (89 per cent) and mid-level professional and technical roles (69 per cent).
The report also found South Korea has the smallest gender wealth gap at 90 per cent, while in Nigeria, the gap is 60 per cent.
“It’s imperative that activities around gender diversity, equity and inclusion broaden to look at economic wealth at the end of women’s working careers,” said Manjit Basi, senior director of integrated and global solutions at WTW, in a press release. “Pay is a fundamental factor that underlies the gender wealth gap and while addressing the gender pay gap will partially close the wealth gap, it won’t eliminate it entirely.”
Read: More work to be done in shrinking Canada’s gender pay gap: report