Imagine you're pregnant.

With morning sickness, baby showers and deciding on a name, the last thing on your mind is probably your future retirement.

But it's actually this time of life, when you take time off to have kids, that can have a huge impact on how much money you have later on — particularly if you return to the workforce part time.

Sarah Vujcich first took time off work four years ago when her daughter was born. She went back to work part time as a social worker but since she had her son 18 months old ago, she's stayed at home.

"You're too busy doing everything else to think about super," Mrs Vujcich said.

But her time out of the paid workforce means her super has taken a big hit. She currently only has about $25,000 in her super account.

"It's something that has been on my mind because I'm conscious of whether I should be contributing to it," she said.

"What I'm missing will end up making a big difference."

While the gap is getting smaller, on average, women retire with half the super men have.

There are many reasons why. Some of the big ones include the gender pay gap, workforce participation, the rise of the gig economy, taxation policy and super inequalities.

But it's also because women almost always tend to be the parent who takes time off to raise kids.

In fact, just 3-4 per cent of men stay at home, according to the Australian Institute of Family Studies.

"When [parents] do return [to work], they're more likely to return at reduced hours and all of this depresses their wages," Helen Hodgson from Curtin University said.

"Now, because we've got this system where your superannuation balance is closely linked to what you earn, the less you earn, the lower your super's going to be."

But despite the super challenges women face, it's unlikely the system will change anytime soon.

The Federal Government announced a major review of Australia's super system last month, but women aren't specifically mentioned in the terms of reference.

So, what can a couple do to even things up?

Mrs Vujcich and her husband Scott have recently started thinking about what they can do to increase her super.

"We did have a discussion. She looked at my super balance compared to hers — it's maybe three to four times the amount of hers — and I think she was a bit perturbed or put out by it," Mr Vujcich said.

Mr Vujcich works as a hydrogeologist in the mining industry. Apart from being in a much better-paid industry than the community sector, he also has another thing going for him — he's never had a career break.

Sarah, pictured here with her husband, has less than $30,000 in super.

"I know that Scott and I are married and will combine our pool, our kitty, put it all together [in retirement], but mine is significantly lower than his," Mrs Vujcich said.

"I want to contribute to the family and us in our retirement just as equally."

She also sees it as an acknowledgement of the important work she's doing at home that she doesn't get paid for.

"A mum's work can be 100 hours-plus a week and you don't get any super and you don't get any pay," Mrs Vujcich said.

"It's a feeling of insecurity, definitely."

Mrs Vujcich hopes to return to work in a couple of years, but the couple have just moved from Perth to a small town in the Northern Territory.

"Because I'll be living remotely, I'm not sure what sort of work opportunities there'll be for me," she said.

So what can the Vujcichs — or any couple, for that matter — do to try and bump up the lower-income earner's super?

"It's all going to be coming down to budgetary constraints and looking at it and saying, well, what are my needs? Where am I at in my stage in life?" Professor Hodgson said.

Get the government to contribute

Most people who are on maternity leave or are stay-at-home parents are likely to be earning a fairly low income.

The government wants to encourage people on a low income to save for their retirement, so it does something called a government co-contribution.

So, if you earn less than about $52,000, if you put in up to an extra $1,000 from your pocket, the government will throw in up to $500 (it's on a sliding scale).

You can find out whether you're eligible by going to the ATO's super section.

It's all done through the tax office. You just have to do your tax return as usual and the extra money will be moved into your account.

Share your partner's super

Another way to even things up if you don't have any spare cash and you're in a relationship is to divide up the super an employer has paid into the income earner's account.

Just to recap how the system works — when you go to work your employer pays at least 9.5 per cent of your income into your super account for you.

So the partner who is earning more can actually do something called super splitting. They can move some of that money into the lower-income earning partner's account.

For instance, if your partner got paid $10,000 into their super account this year, they could put across $5,000 into your super account.

There are some eligibility requirements to doing this that you can have a look at.

Get your spouse to contribute

If you're not keen to share your super but you have some spare cash, another option is to dip into your take-home pay and put some extra money into the low-income earning person's super account.

You can also make use of a tax offset, but the low-income earning person must make less than $37,000 for their partner to claim the maximum tax offset.

There are a few requirements here.

If you can spare it, a $3,000 contribution gives you the maximum tax offset benefit of $540.

Contribute more when you go back to work

But maybe you're a single parent and you don't have a partner to top up your super, or perhaps you can't afford to make extra payments now when the kids are little.

Another thing you can do is focus on your super when you go back to work. Some people up their payments by, say, 1 per cent for the rest of their working lives to make up for lost time.

A few companies are even doing this on behalf of their female staff.

Rice Warner gives its female staff an extra 2 per cent super (it had to seek approval from the Australian Human Rights Commission to do this).

And ANZ Bank contributes an extra $500 a year for women and keeps up contributions through paid and unpaid maternity leave.

Administration worker Laura Rowe has been putting an extra $155 into her super each fortnight for the past six months.

After getting married to husband James earlier this year, she's now expecting her first baby.

"I have started topping up my super as much as I can while I'm still working," she said.

Laura Rowe has been putting an extra $155 into her super each fortnight for the past six months. ( Supplied: Laura Rowe )

"To be honest, it's something I haven't even noticed."

Ms Rowe was motivated to get her super in order after seeing a close female relative go through a divorce and struggle in retirement.

"We were talking about it in the lead-up to our wedding — the realities of our future financial goals, I guess. One thing very much on the forefront of my mind is my super balance. How that might be impacted by our decision to have a family," Ms Rowe said.

It was something her husband was also keen to address.

"I think it's healthier to have a bit of money each put aside so you're both feeling like you're in charge of managing that portion and contributing to your retirement," he explained.

The couple is also planning on putting some extra cash contributions into Ms Rowe's super account while she's on maternity leave.

"It's definitely something we want to look into and do," her husband said. "It's affordable for us and over the long term it will pay dividends at retirement age."

This article contains general information only. It should not be relied on as finance advice.

You should obtain specific, independent professional advice from a registered financial planner in relation to your particular circumstances and issues.

Are you a woman who needs help to manage your money?

We know you have unique challenges as, overall, research has shown that women:

Earn less than men

Earn less than men Have less superannuation

Have less superannuation Are more likely to have career breaks

Are more likely to have career breaks Have lower levels of financial literacy

It's time to change things. We want to help you to become more confident about money and have the skills and information you need to shore up your financial future.

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