THE THE GENDER GENDER WAGE GAP WAGE GAP
IN AUSTRALIA IN AUSTRALIA IN AUSTRALIA
Despite Australia's efforts, closing the gender pay gap involves more than ensuring equal pay. To remove the barriers to women's full and equal participation in the workforce, a shift in culture is required to promote national economic prosperity
Conscious and unconscious discrimination, societal norms and bias in hiring and pay decisions.
Occupational and industrial segregation. Women are over-represented in lower paid roles and under-represented in higher paid, senior and leadership roles.
High rates of part-time work for women
The majority of caregiving responsibilities fall on women and mothers, they will spend more time out of the workforce and perform more unpaid domestic work, which hinders their career opportunities.
Undervaluation of women’s skills.
What is the gender gap?
The gender pay gap is an internationally recognised indicator of women's economic standing relative to men. It measure the difference between the average earnings of women and men in the labour market. The gender pay gap refers to disparities in annual mean or median earnings, weekly earnings, or hourly wage. It is a significant indicator of the relative position of women in the economy.
Despite being one of the first countries to require gender equality reporting, allow women to vote, work and a pioneer in equal pay for equal work, Australia is losing progress on gender wage equality starting from early 1900s. In May 2022, the gender pay gap for full- time workers in Australia is 14.2%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reports that men earn an average of $263.90 more each week than women. To receive the same annual pay as males, women must labour an additional 60 days.
Why Australia?
Why this happen?
WHAT ARE THE IMPACT?
low purchasing power
poverty mental health
-stress
Affects the financial independence disparities in retirement savings, women may
retire with no superannuation
Significantly impacts Australia's economic performance and per capita GDP.
How to solve GENDER PAY GAP?
Publish gender pay gaps of individual organisations or support pay transparency
To enable external stakeholders to hold employers accountable for gender equality performance and make it more difficult for companies to pay male workers more than female workers
Invest in affordable, high-quality child care and early childhood education
To creates long-lasting structures that support both working parents and children, increasing women’s ability to keep a job, excel in the workforce, and lower the gender wage gap.
Increase the severity of noncompliance penalties for companies who allow wage discrepancies
Exclude non-compliant firms from government procurement, contracts, and financial aid to reinforce the federal government's commitment to gender equality and to prevent further compliance rate decreases.
Provide women with paid family leave, maternity leave, and an insurance scheme
Since women primarily provide family care, they are more likely to quit their occupations.
Paid leave or insurance can shorten time away from work, facilitate re-entry into the workforce, and strengthen the economic stability of families, hence reducing the wage gap.
The history of gender pay gap in Australia
Harvester 1907
judgement Enforcing a basic rate of
pay /a minimum wage 1969
equal pay for equal work
Initially, it applied exclusively to women in male-dominated sectors or high-paying jobs. In 1972 this law barred gender-based occupations and mandated equal pay.
granted an equal 1973
minimum wage regardless of gender
Established Fair Work 2009
Commision Which set the minimum wages for
Australia and help with issues in the workplace
Issued Workplace 2012
Gender Equality Act 2012
Conclusion
Australian Trade Union Institute. (2021). The Harvester Judgement and the basic wage. https://atui.org.au/2021/11/04/the-harvester-judgement-and-the-basic-wage/
National Museum of Australia. (2022). Equal pay for women. https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/equal-pay-for-women
The Council of Economic Advisers. (1998). Explaining Trends in The Gender Wage Gap. https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/WH/EOP/CEA/html/gendergap.html Workplace Gender Equality Agency. (n.d.). The Gender Pay Gap. https://www.wgea.gov.au/the-gender-pay-gap
Cassells, R., Vidyattama, Y., Miranti, R., & McNamara, J. (2009). The impact of a sustained gender wage gap on the Australian economy. National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling.
https://library.bsl.org.au/jspui/bitstream/1/1601/1/gender_wage_gap.pdf
Glynn, S., J., Fisher, M., Baxter, E. (2014). 7 Actions that Could Shrink the Gender Wage Gap. The Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/7-actions-that-could-shrink-the-gender-wage-gap/
Workplace Gender Equality Agency. (2022). Hard choices on necessities for Australian women as gender pay gap persists. https://www.wgea.gov.au/newsroom/new-national-gender-pay-gap Chang, J., Connell, J., Burgess, J., & Travaglione, A. (2014). Gender wage gaps in Australian workplaces: are policy responses working?. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal.
Charlesworth, S., & Macdonald, F. (2015). Australia’s gender pay equity legislation: how new, how different, what prospects?. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 39(2), 421-440.
Kulik, C. T. (2022). Gender (in) equality in Australia: good intentions and unintended consequences. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 60(1), 97-115.
Kennedy, T., Rae, M., Sheridan, A., & Valadkhani, A. (2017). Reducing gender wage inequality increases economic prosperity for all: Insights from Australia. Economic Analysis and Policy, 55, 14-24.
