Women in Australia are earning 17% less than men, a greater gender gap than what existed in 1985. According to statistics from Rice Warner Actuaries and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), this sets them up for a lifetime of financial inequality worth up to A$1 million (US$910,000).
The ACTU says although women are now more likely than men to be university graduates, their annual starting salary is $2000 (US$1800) a year less then their male counterparts. It notes that they continue to fall behind in wages and superannuation (Australia’s compulsory retirement scheme).
Melissa Fuller, General Manager, Rice Warner Actuaries, says a 22-year-old man can expect to retire after a full working life with $299,000 in superannuation, while a young woman can expect to retire with about 40% less. In retirement, the man can expect a steady income of about $29,000 a year, while the woman will have to get by on $22,000.
To tackle this pay gap issue, the ACTU is planning a major campaign to seek legislative and regulatory change. ACTU President Sharan Burrow says unions will look to cumpanies to be transparent about the pay and participation rates of women in their workforces. "(Employers) should be held to account where they fail to promote women or pay them the same as men”.
Burrow says women predominantly work in areas of community service, which is often not valued as much as traditional male trades. “Of course in the private sector it gets a whole lot worse where you have got less than 2% of women who are CEOs of listed companies,” she added.
Australian women won the right to equal pay 40 years ago. But Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, says they remain clustered in low-wage, low-skill jobs.
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