The latest MLC Wealth Sentiment Survey of 2100 people shows more than 50 per cent of respondents are concerned they will not have enough to fund their retirement.
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No one will be surprised that there is a clear gender gap in the responses with 36 per cent of men and only 27 per cent of women saying they are likely to have saved "enough to retire".
Women are retiring on about half the savings of men.
It is just the latest survey to confirm that we have a big problem with gender and retirement savings.
The almost 20 per cent gap between men's and women's pay and the time taken out of the workforce or reduced hours of paid employment for child rearing are behind the difference.
It is also about men. Too many seem unwilling to take up a bigger role in taking time out of the paid workforce or reducing their hours to do more of the caring for their children.
An obvious way to help close the gap is to redirect some of the superannuation tax breaks going to high earners, and therefore disproportionately to males, to the lowest paid, mostly women.
Tax breaks are going to high earners who do not need the incentive of tax breaks to save for their retirement; they would save anyway.
It is one of the biggest inequities of all that someone who already has saved enough to afford a very comfortable retirement can keep receiving tax breaks.
Yet, a couple of million workers on low incomes, most of them women, are taxed more highly on super contribution than on their income.
They pay an average rate of income tax on all of their income of less than 15 per cent, yet their compulsory super has a contributions tax of 15 per cent.
That is why the previous Labor government brought in the low income superannuation contribution (LISC).
Under LISC, which was paid for the first time in the 2012-13 year, the government pays up to $500 into their super accounts.
The Coalition wants to get rid of LISC, saying it is too expensive. Yet, somehow, there does not seem to be a problem with the big tax breaks going to the well off.
However, as part of a Senate deal with the Palmer United Party and some of the cross benchers last year to secure the repeal of the mining tax, the government was forced to give the LISC a temporary reprieve, until the 2016-17 year.
As far as the Coalition is concerned, beyond June 30, 2017 the LISC is dead.
As well the LISC, the other great help to women and to lower-income workers in general, would be to resume the gradual increase in compulsory super contributions from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent.
Another part of the Senate deal to allow the repeal of the mining tax was that the Abbott government was allowed to put a "temporary" freeze on the rise on compulsory super reaching 12 per cent.
