The shortfall is likely to cost a mother-of-two $14,000 in their superannuation when they do retire, according to analysis by Industry Super Australia.

The Women's Electoral Lobby has called for a rethink, saying the scheme was already too miserly.

READ MORE:

Chair of the lobby's national coordinating committee Jozefa Sobski said women were an afterthought for government policy makers.

"The paid parental leave is inadequate in terms of payments and duration,'' she said.

"Women's lives are different to men's... and that isn't taken into account."

Ms Sobski said women should be paid superannuation on Family Tax Benefit B and for the provision of end-of-life care for elderly parents.

"I hope it's not a conscious decision by government to keep women poor,'' she said.

"But the outcome is that women are impoverished in later life.''

Industry Super Australia advocacy director Georgia Brumby said parental leave was one of the only types of paid leave with no requirement for super.

"The government does not pay the super guarantee on its scheme,'' Ms Brumby said.

"So unless an employer voluntarily pays super on leave a working mother's savings fall further behind.''

Nearly 8,500 women in the Bendigo electorate have received Commonwealth parental leave pay in the past 10 years.

Ms Brumby said the policy was overwhelmingly affecting women - with 99.4% of Bendigo's Commonwealth parental leave applicants women and just 0.6% men.

She said Bendigo women of all ages had less super than men, but the gap widened dramatically when women were in their 30s, typically the time when they took time out of the workforce to have children.

"The typical Bendigo woman nearing retirement has about $114,600 less super than the typical local man,'' she said.

Other news:

The average super balance for a Bendigo man in his 60s was $231,800 and for a woman it was just $117,200.

"Bendigo women are being made to sacrifice their retirement savings to have children,'' Ms Brumby said.

"It's hard enough trying to juggle work and raising a family - it's not fair that thousands of women are also being slugged with this hidden pregnancy tax on their super as well."

Industry Super Australia has estimated that a woman who spent five years out of the workforce in their late 20s and early 30s could be almost $100,000 worse off in retirement because of it.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: