Gender Wage Gap Widens
Type: Union News Subject: Women
31 July 2008
The Australian wage gap between men and women widened by 2% between 1994 and 2004, according to figures released last month.
The findings are part of the Australian Bureau of Statistics annual Australian Social Trends report.
The report examined national earnings records from 1974 to 2004 and found that up till 2004 females in comparable occupations and positions earned 92% as much as their male counterparts, resulting in a gender wage gap of 8% - 10 years earlier the gap was only 6%.
Across-the-board figures from February this year indicate that full-time female employees earned an average $1,004 a week compared to full-time male average weekly earnings of $1,190.
Researchers have attributed this gender pay gap to various factors, including women being concentrated in occupations with lower rates of pay.
The report also found that women aged 20-24, who have recently entered the workforce, actually earned 7% more than their male counterparts, although the figure slips back behind men as they get older.
The Department of the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has told Senate estimates the Government will consider establishing a new pay-equity tribunal to address the gap, which results in women earning less than men doing comparable jobs, as part of its next wave of workplace relations reforms.
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