Gender gap in Australia reaches record high

The wage gap between men and women in Australia has reached its highest rate since records began.

A report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, released today, showed that the wage gap has increased to 18.8%. This demonstrates a 0.7% rise from the last report in May 2014.

Full-time male workers now earn an average of $1,587.40 a week, which is £298.10 more than the average weekly wage of full-time female workers.

The gender gap is at its highest in the financial and insurance industries at around 30%, followed by the health and social industries at just over 29%. However, these gaps have still narrowed significantly over the past year.

The minister assisting the prime minister for women Senator Michaelia Cash commented: "Improving gender equality and female participation in the workforce is essential to boosting Australia’s productivity and our economic growth."

She highlighted removing barriers to women re-entering the workforce after maternity leave as essential for closing the wage gap.

Solomon W. Polachek also writes about ways to reduce the gender gap in developed countries. He advocates policies which increase women’s lifetime work, such as eliminating marriage taxes and promoting greater take-up of daycare.

Read more here.

Related articles:
Equal pay legislation and the gender wage gap, by Solomon W. Polachek 
Gender quotas on boards of directors, by Nina Smith