Female finances: Gender wage gaps and gender assets gaps

The size and source of the gender wage gap in Britain has been well researc hed. Women's typically lower status employment and their reduced, discontin uous career profiles when they have caring responsibilities have combined s eriously to damage their ability to earn a decent wage. Such marked gender differences in employment patterns produce a substantial gender gap in leve ls of wealth too, yet despite this there has been less attention paid to th e gendering of assets than there has to gender differentials in earnings an d income. So to pull out these multi-dimensional effects of a gender disadv antaged labour market, this article explores the extent of wage and assets inequality in Britain in the mid 1990s. Analysis of the Family Resources Su rvey shows that women continue to have lower incomes than men even with the ir increased entry to the labour market, and have fewer chances to build up a safety net of savings in their working lives and a good income for their retirement. It would seem that in a future Britain where individuals will increasingly depend on private pensions rather than a state minimum, even i f women continue to increase their participation levels, the poverty they f ace in old age will persist.