Gender pay gap: new push for parity as women’s salaries start lower, peak earlier

Women are experiencing wage drops after they return from a career break and are well behind male counterparts on the pay scale.

Working mum Amy Blacker with her daughter, Harriet.

WOMEN are experiencing wage drops after they return from a career break and are well behind male counterparts on the pay scale.

Female workers are starting their full-time careers on wages 12 per cent less than men and they never catch up to males in their working life.

On average, they end up taking a three per cent pay ­decrease when they return from a career break.

The Westpac International Women’s Day Report focuses on a “pledge for parity” among genders.

It shows a woman’s average salary peaks at age 31, while a man’s peaks at 39.

It found the initial average full-time starting wage for women is $34,400 compared to $39,000 for men, widening the gap between the sexes to $123.4 billion a year.

Westpac director of women’s markets Ainslie van Onselen said that more action was needed to be taken to get women on a level playing field.

The report also found women are reluctant to ask for a pay increase — 60 per cent are not proactive.

Ms Van Onselen encouraged women to look around and see what pay ranges were being offered for similar roles at other workplaces and to negotiate with their employer.

Westpac employee Amy Blacker, 35, who is pregnant with her second child, said she worked four days a week and negotiated flexible working hours and pay rises.

“Life as a mum is sometimes hard to get into the office so I sometimes work from home where it’s more feasible to ... get things done,’’ she said.

“Asking for more money is never an easy conversation to have ... women often don’t back themselves like men do.”