Young girls earning less pocket money than boys in early gender pay inequity

GIRLS earn less pocket money than boys, preparing them for a lifetime of gender pay inequity, a new report shows.

Kylee Mason with Sacred Heart Primary School Students L-R Liam, India, Sienna, Holly and Maddy. International WomenÕs Day is about womenÕs pay gap across their life. Kylee used to work full-time then had kids and has just started up a new business teaching yoga in schools and to kids in gyms. Picture: Jason Edwards

GIRLS earn less pocket money than boys, preparing them for a lifetime of gender pay inequity, a new report shows.

New research by The Australian Council of Trade Unions shows women are financially disadvantaged at every stage of their life.

It all starts with girls getting 11 per cent less pocket money than boys, and women getting 18 per cent less as a university graduate compared to men.

By the time women hit the workforce they will earn 17 per cent less than men — around $284.20 a week.

The wage gap widens further when women are in their child-bearing years, when they earn 40 per cent less than men of the same age, regardless of whether they have children.

By the time women retire they have less than half the superannuation of men: $138,150 for compared to $292,500. The research also shows 60 per cent of women have no superannuation at all, and 38 per cent will retire in poverty.

ACTU president Ged Kearney said the findings were “overwhelming”.

“Young girls are still disadvantaged, women in the workplace are presented with constant barriers and older women face a poor retirement, possibly a retirement into poverty,” she said.

“The ACTU hoped for change since the original report was published three years ago. How long do we all have to keep waiting? Why isn’t this government making inequality a priority?”

The report, released in advance of International Women’s Day tomorrow is the first update since the original Gender Pay Gap report was published in 2013.

Mont Albert mother-of-three Kylee Mason, 39, has first-hand knowledge of the gender wage gap.

Ms Mason has worked as both a nurse and teacher and is now running Bliss Kidz Yoga, teaching yoga to children in schools, gyms and community centres.

“Teachers and nurses don’t earn all that much because the caring roles aren’t valued,” she said. “Sometimes you have to make your own opportunities”.

Natasha Gallardo, CEO of Working Mothers Connect, said women should “stand up for what you believe in, don’t be afraid to negotiate and ask for that promotion”.

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