The Myth of the Gender Pay Gap By Mrs Vera West
The Australian gender pay gap issue is back in the mainstream media, this time with angst expressed that some of Australia's biggest corporations have a gap greater than the national average of 19 percent. According to the Minister for Women, Kathy Gallagher, "There is a substantial problem in this country when you've got essentially two thirds of businesses with a gender pay gap in favour of men."
"It's not about shaming, it's not about naming, it's not about saying men should be paid less. It's about driving that change that we need to see in organisations to make sure that women are getting a fair crack at opportunity and that we are closing the gender pay gap over time."
This is entirely a myth, since by law equality of pay has been required for decades. The pay differential comes from men working longer hours and doing more demanding jobs, in general. It is simply a product of statistics and has no social significance except to ideological feminists. It always struck me as absurd to hear Julia Gillard preaching about these issues, while holding the position of prime minister.
"The gender pay gap at some of Australia's top corporations including Commonwealth Bank (CBA.AX), opens new tab, national carrier Qantas (QAN.AX), opens new tab and oil and gas explorer Woodside (WDS.AX), opens new tab is bigger than the national average of 19%, new data showed on Tuesday.
The government released for the first time data on gender pay gaps at firms with more than 100 employees, following legislation passed in March 2023 that forced them to reveal the pay of male and female employees.
The report exposes the yawning gulf between what men and women earn at some of Australia's biggest employers despite years of commentary from governments and corporations about closing the gender pay gap.
The median total remuneration gap for 2022/23 was 19% in favour of men, while the difference in median base pay was 14.5% and in average total pay it was 21.7%, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) said.
Only one-third of companies had a median gender pay gap between the target range of -5% and +5%.
"It's not about shaming, it's not about naming, it's not about saying men should be paid less. It's about driving that change that we need to see in organisations to make sure that women are getting a fair crack at opportunity and that we are closing the gender pay gap over time," Gallagher said."
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