KPMG has suggested those who take time off work to raise children should receive a super tax rebate. 

The analysts say raising children should not deprive parents of extra contributions to their retirement. 

KPMG has released the latest report in a series aimed at lifting women's workforce participation and narrowing gender pay gaps.

It lays out options including having the federal government make top-up contributions (rather than co-contributions) into the superannuation accounts of primary carers who have a child of pre-school age.

They say this would help lower-income women make higher contributions to their super. Currently, Australian women retire with 28 per cent less superannuation than men. 

“We shouldn't have to apologise for making sure that the same opportunities to access concessions are available to high-performing women and high-earning women as they are to higher-earning men,” says KPMG chairman Alison Kitchen.

“It is important not just to focus on disadvantaged women, but to also make sure that we're levelling the playing field.”

The analysts suggest a rebate be awarded for the 15 per cent Superannuation Contributions Tax paid on contributions up to five years after the period out of the workforce, so that primary carers are compensated for superannuation lost while at home caring for children.

The KPMG proposal would see the primary carer catch up to 50 per cent of the mandatory concessional contributions that might reasonably have been made, had they not taken time out of the workforce.

The individual would be able to claim the rebate on their personal income tax return. 

The modelling shows that halving the workforce participation gap between men and women could increase economic growth by $60 billion over 20 years.