Gender Pay Gap Illusions By Mrs Vera West
One of the big things of professional feminists, such as former prime minister Julia Gillard, is the so-called gender pay gap. This is a statistical construction, whereby if one examines the pay levels of men and women in various businesses and corporations, and even across fields, it is found that men earn more than women. The feminists like to fudge on this one, implying that something illegal is going on here, but legal equal pay for the same work for the sexes has existed for decades now, so that pseudo-explanation collapses pretty quickly and really is just a cheap shot to get the troops with blue hair stirred up.
It is admitted by the chattering class, that there are structural reasons for the gap, such as the existence of gender dominated industries, with child care being dominated by women, but paying less than highly dangerous work in mines using explosives, that women tend to not want to do. One may suppose that the socialists would want women to do the dirty dangerous jobs, and men to do more in the child care industry, or what is more likely, for men to not have jobs at all, and fall into unemployment and suicide, especially if White, so that they can be replaced by migrants, preferably migrant women.
The big idea now is for new comprehensive public disclosure laws to “shame” businesses into doing something to close the gender gap. This was tried in the UK and failed. In fact, how is this supposed to work? Women would need to move into areas where they do not want to work: this inability to do dangerous and dirty, but higher paid work, is never discussed by the feminist lobby, as it puts their team in a bad light. Really, concern about a statistical difference in overall pay levels is just as neurotic feminist preoccupation. It would be better for the lobby to focus upon issues where women may be discriminated against, but that will be on an individual level, and feminism has always been about grand plans of social reform, making the feminist reformers heroes, or so they think.
“The national gender pay gap has fallen to a new low of 21.7 per cent, and the impending public revelation early next year of the gaps at every business employing more than 100 people — a definition that covers nearly 5 million workers — will likely push it lower still.
Key points:
- The average total national gender pay gap has fallen 1.1 percentage points to 21.7pc, a new low
- The gap is created by factors like gender-dominated industries, women having more time out of the workforce and the history of gender discrimination against women
- Government figures suggest the annual pay difference between men and women has narrowed by $1,322
"If we want real change, we need employers to take bold action," Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) chief executive officer Mary Wooldridge said with the release of the new data, pointing to three key reasons for the improvement.
"Increased discussion and debate around gender equality, a tight labour market and impending legislative reform have helped drive action on workplace gender equality over the last year."
That last element of "legislative reform" is an understatement.
A federal government change to the law means millions of Australian workers will soon know — in stark detail — exactly how men and women are treated inside the organisation they work.
Not what the bosses say. What they pay.
Radical transparency
In an interview discussing the data, Ms Wooldridge revealed just how soon we will know the inner workings of Australian business: late January or early February in 2024.
That is when the gender pay gap data of every large Australian business will be published.
Since 2012, private-sector employers with 100 or more employees have been required to report data about the gender gap among their employees to WGEA, an agency of the federal government.
Companies received individualised reports about their pay gaps and how to fix them.
But WGEA only published anonymised information about industry sectors.
That is going to change, to try to shift a gender pay gap still stuck above 20 per cent.
"With publishing comes transparency and accountability," she said.
"Accountability and transparency are fundamental to both celebrate those who are doing well and to challenge those who can do more."
The UK experience
When this happened in the United Kingdom, it did not close the gap.
But the firestorm about substantial gaps at notable employers such as airline RyanAir (a 72 per cent gap) and bank Barclays (44 per cent) did push a conversation about the issue.
This data from the ONS, the UK equivalent of our Bureau of Statistics (ABS), shows the gender pay gap has fallen — and new initiatives have an impact.
The gender pay gap — the difference between what men and women are paid in the same organisation — is a stubborn problem.
It is not "equal pay for equal work". The idea that men and women should be paid the same for the same work has been enshrined in law for decades. Any employer not doing that is breaking the law.
The gender pay gap is more complex.
It comes about through factors such as gender-dominated or previously segregated industries. For example, teaching and "caring" professions have typically been dominated by women, and paid much less than male-dominated fields such as construction.
Women are also more likely to have time out of the workforce to raise children or care for elderly relatives.
Additionally, there is a history of gender discrimination against women and historic barriers to better wages and financial security.
What are the numbers?
The new data reveals the national "total remuneration" gender pay gap is 21.7 per cent in 2023.
It means for every $1 men earn in Australia, women earn — on average — 78 cents. Over a year that's a gap of $26,393.
That figure has narrowed by $1,322 this year.
The decrease of 1.1 percentage points — from 22.8 per cent in 2022 — is the second-largest "single-year drop" since the agency first started collecting data from employers in 2014.
This figure includes base salary, overtime, bonuses and additional payments.
A differently calculated figure, using the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) survey of average weekly earnings, suggests the "base salary" gender pay gap is 13 per cent.”
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