Pay Gap Between Men and Women Begins With Pocket Money in Childhood

The pay gap between men and women starts in childhood.

 According to new research released by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), boys are getting more pocket money on average than girls.

The report, Gender Pay Gap – Over The Life Cycle, found that boys in Australia receive around 11% more pocket money than girls. Less than 1 in 20 girls are considering pursuing a career in science, technology, engineering or mathematics compared to 1 in 5 boys. Australian women are financially disadvantaged at every stage of life, not just childhood, according to the findings of the report. The disadvantage continues in the workplace, through pregnancy, in motherhood, career and in retirement.

Overall, it was found that despite making up 42% of the workforce in Australia, women currently earn 17.2% less than men. They also earn less on average to men than they did 20 years ago.

While 60% of university graduates in recent years have been women, female post-graduates are earning just 82% of the salary of a male post graduate. Only 24% of Australian board directors are women, and 17% of chief executives.

During a woman’s child-bearing years of 25 to 44,  she’s likely to earn up to 40% less than men in the same age group – even if she doesn’t have children. While women who do have children and return to work after 12 months parental leave are likely to suffer a wage penalty of 7% in their first year back at work.

Meanwhile, in retirement, the average superannuation balance for a woman is $138,150 compared with $292,500 for men – and 60% of Australian women aged 65 to 69 have no super at all. The report estimates that 38.7% of single women will retire in poverty.

The ACTU President, Ged Kearney, said: “In 2016, the findings in today’s report are just overwhelming. Young girls are still disadvantaged, women in the workplace are presented with constant barriers and older women face a poor retirement, possibly a retirement into poverty.”

“A girl receiving 11% less pocket money than a boy is a simple indicator that we can all begin to make things fairer in our families. But when 60% of women aged between 65-69 years retire with no Super, 70% of workers in the lowest paid occupations are women and just 17% of Australian CEOs are women,this shouts out that we have major problems to tackle.” she said.

The ACTU estimates that over a woman’s lifetime, a woman who graduates with a bachelor’s degree can expect to earn  $1.5 million less than a man with the equivalent qualifications.

Have you ever found you were paid less than a man to do the same work?