Are you ok with getting paid 17.3% less for performing the same work?

As of March 2016, women are getting paid 17.3% less than their male counterparts.

According the Australian Bureau of Statistics, this figure fluctuates between 15 and 19 per cent – neither figure is close to being acceptable.

What does this actually mean? 

It means that on average, the full-time weekly earning of a male gets a 16.2% more of a pay cut. So let’s see this in a working:

The full-time average weekly earning of women is $1,325.10. The full-time average weekly earnings of men is $1,602.80. This a whooping $277.70 per week, equating to 17.3%.

JUST IMAGINE WHAT YOU COULD DO WITH THAT CHUNK OF CHANGE!!

$277.70 can get you:

• Urban Decay’s Naked, Naked2 AND Naked3 palettes
• A 19″ HD LED TV and still have money to spare
• 78 cups of coffee (based on the average cost of coffee)
• A low end smartphone

Wait an entire year and you can afford yourself a car. Albeit, not a very swanky car, but a car is still a car!

The industry that suffers greatly by the wage gap is the Financial and Insurance Services at around 30% whilst Public Administration and Safety has the lowest at 7.7% which equals approx. $123.

Why does this gap exist?

Lower paying jobs encompass female dominated occupations and higher paying jobs hold most of the male dominated occupations. BUT, even in female-dominated fields, men still make more money comparatively.

It boils down to gender stereotypes. We still perceive some jobs are perceived to be better suited to men than women and vice versa.

What about gender roles?

What do we need to do to address this gap?

What can organisations do to play their part in reducing this gap?

More information on the gender wage gap can be found https://www.wgea.gov.au/addressing-pay-equity/what-gender-pay-gap