Sharing the Wealth

Abstract

Australia’s prosperity in the twentieth century relied on economic growth to lift incomes, and a tax and welfare state to share the wealth. Australians became rich, and social expenditures equalised wealth and income. This success also relied fundamentally on a gender-unequal care economy, primarily focused on care of children by women. Wage growth accrued to men, while women bore the economic cost of care. Since the 1960s, prosperity led to increased longevity and a population boom. Fertility gradually declined as women pursued education and work during second wave feminism, yet gender inequality in income and wealth persists. Today, in Australia’s long-lived and ageing population, economic growth has slowed, wages have stagnated and wealth inequality has increased. As demographic and economic conditions become increasingly unlike the conditions of the mid-twentieth century, tensions in the gendered distribution of wealth and care have come to the fore. This article explores Australia’s gendered wealth inequality and considers what should be done to re-orient policies to ensure a gender-equal and sustainable sharing of the wealth in future. Show more