Australian women earn around 70 cents for every dollar earned by men, according to a new report on economic gender inequality.
The findings, released by the Government agency Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), form the first section of a three-part study analysing a decade’s worth of data.
Across nearly 700 occupations, the report found men out-earn women in 98% of roles.
It also highlighted a widening of the pay gap among women aged 25 to 39, attributing the trend to the “motherhood penalty”.
Research
JSA’s analysis of 688 occupations found four in five Australian workers are in roles with a skewed gender balance of employees.
It said about 70% of jobs were as gender segregated in 2021 as they had been in 2006.
In more than 100 occupations, the pay gap exceeds 25%. Around 14 roles (2%) have “relatively neutral” pay disparities.
Jobs in male-dominated industries, such as finance, continue to have the highest pay gap.
Gender pay gaps also widened with age, peaking among workers aged 40–54.
The report’s intersectional analysis showed that while pay gaps are decreasing for First Nations women and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) women, they remain higher than those for white women.
Over the past decade, CALD women have earned around 31% less than men. First Nations women, who have the highest gender pay gap in Australia, have earned 38.1% less over 10 years.
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First Nations men also experience a disparity, earning 19.3% less than their gender cohort over the same period.
Drivers
The report acknowledged that differences in work patterns and hours contributed to pay gaps, but noted that disparities were still there even when these differences were minimal.
JSA found economic gender inequality is still driven by the “motherhood penalty” — the loss of earning capacity or career progression when women take time off work to have children.
This factor results in “the worst subsequent economic outcomes” for women aged 25–39.
Response
The Federal Government said the data places Australia among the “most gender-segregated labour markets in the world.”
Minister for Women Katy Gallagher said “outdated and sexist approaches toward women in the workplace” are holding back the economy.
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) said addressing gender segregation in the workplace is “the next critical frontier” in closing pay gaps.
In a statement to TDA, WGEA CEO Mary Wooldridge said: “We need to go back to basics to dismantle entrenched gender stereotypes and norms that can significantly impact a person’s choice of career and their ability to be successful.”
TDA reached out to the Opposition but did not receive a comment by the time of publication.
