The Pay Gap is Very Real

Many will tell you that the pay gap isn’t real. That women are paid less not because of discrimination, but because they choose lower paying jobs and work less to ‘be at home with the kids.’ This is a reductionist perspective that perverts and overlooks the truth. 

According to the ABS, the gender pay gap is 13 percent, meaning women earn approximately $13,000 less each year. The calculation that gives us this number is based on a large sample of employees working full time in the public and private sector. 

A typical response to pay gap statistics is that ‘well that’s just because women work different jobs.’ This is true. Conservative cultural norms and traditional values have long disempowered women from entering the workplace. Old boys clubs have dominated industries throughout the country and created toxic environments that are incredibly difficult to endure. In the medical field for example, global studies estimate 33% of junior doctors will face sexual harassment at the hands of another medical professional, often a senior, and almost always a male. 

Differences in the type of work aside, there is a lesser known but arguably more important type of pay gap that poses a sharp counterpoint to those who would deny its existence entirely. The like-for-like pay gap. The like-for-like pay gap describes instances where workers are paid different amounts whilst working the same amount of hours, with the same level of productivity, in the exact same role, taking the same amount of leave. Organisations do not advertise this kind of discrimination, and it is difficult to collect data regarding the prevalence. However, according to data collected in a 2021 WGEA gender pay gap audit, more than 700 organisations (all with over 100 employees) in Australia demonstrated like-for-like pay gaps. 

Whilst more research is needed into the like-for-like pay gap issue, currently available data makes its existence undeniable. To all of those who deny the existence of a gender pay gap, best of luck explaining away the fact that women and men in the same jobs, who put in the same amount of hours, and who demonstrate the same level of productivity, do not earn the same wage.

References

Harassment and Discrimination in Medicine

https://www.sap2.org.ar/i2/archivos/2224.pdf 

WGEA Audit

https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020-21_WGEA_SCORECARD.pdf

ABS Gender Pay Gap

https://www.wgea.gov.au/data-statistics/ABS-gender-pay-gap-data

WGEA General Information 

https://www.wgea.gov.au/pay-equity#:~:text=Gender%20pay%20equity%20is%20about,in%20a%20non%2Ddiscriminatory%20way