Australia's biggest unions have backed calls for the federal government to include superannuation in its parental leave payments.
Giving evidence at a Senate hearing on Thursday, the ACTU, Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, Finance Sector Union and Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association all agreed the change was needed to help bridge the gap between men and women's retirement incomes.
The NAB and Commonwealth Bank made similar recommendations in their submission to the inquiry earlier this month.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott's proposed paid parental leave scheme, which has now been shelved, included superannuation payments - but the existing one, based on the minimum wage, doesn't.
According to modelling by financial consultants Rice Warner, taking a break from work to care for children has one of the biggest impacts on female super balances.
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That's because they are missing out on both the super payments and compound interest.
"Not only not only are women disadvantaged, but women with children are significantly disadvantaged," the nursing union's Annie Butler told the hearing in Sydney.
But Ms Butler warned that any changes to the system are unlikely to help those now aged over 30.
Women who are child bearing or taking career breaks were still going to end up with inadequate savings by the time they retire, she said.
"At this point, it's really only going to benefit women under 30 for the future."
The lowest-paid worker in her union's membership, whose average age is 43, has a "remarkably poor" super balance of around $16,000.
If they retire at 67, they are set to only have savings of about $139,000.
"That is just not enough to support them through retirement," she said, adding the current pension rate wasn't enough to keep them out of poverty.
Louise Arnfield, national president of the FSU, said she is among a "forgotten" generation facing the prospect of an underfunded retirement.
She had a well-paid full-time job in the banking industry for over 10 years before taking time off to have a family.
She is now only able to work part-time and is on significantly less pay.
Ms Arnfield believes a pension that kept up with the cost of living could go some way to helping people like her, but said there was no "easy answer".
"It's lucky I've got a good sense of humour because I keep saying `I'll just work till I die'," she said.
The FSU and SDA are among those calling for changes to the Fair Work Act to include the right for women to access flexible working arrangements upon returning from career breaks.
