The gender pay gap is real. Here’s proof

GENDER pay gap deniers trot out tired old anecdotes to claim it’s a myth, but a study released yesterday has proven it’s real once and for all, writes Alana Schetzer.

I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but the gender pay gap is real.

Like, really real.

Despite the uproar of dudes who are still angry about the female remake of Ghostbusters, there is irrevocable proof that entrenched sexism in society financially punishes female workers.

And you know why? It’s sexism. Dirty, unfair, pathetic sexism.

On Tuesday, a groundbreaking study from New Zealand’s Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust was released, which opens the curtains on the role that sexism plays in the reason that women are paid less for working the same jobs as men.

Studying multiple industries and millions of workers over 10 years, researchers found that women who make the exact same contribution as men were penalised by 16 per cent lower pay.

“To put it simply, our research suggests sexism is likely to be a major driver of the gender wage gap. What we’re going to do about it is another matter,” Dr Sin, lead researcher, said.

One piece of good news is that the gender pay gap was not an issue for young women who did the same work as young men, but the older women are, the more pronounced the pay gap is. For women aged 25 to 39 years-old, there is a 16 per cent gap, for women aged between 40 and 54, there exists a 21 per cent gap, and for women older than that, there is a crippling 49 per cent pay gap.

The financial punishment for ageing is severe and reflects society’s attitudes to women once they reach an age when they are generally no longer considered of sexual use.

Women being over-represented in lower paid industries accounts for just 7 per cent of the 16 per cent pay gap. (Pic: iStock)

That favourite chestnut of GPG deniers — that any pay gap is caused by women being more likely to work part-time or in lower paid jobs — was also smashed by the study.

“We found that women were over-represented in low-paying industries like food and beverage services, but this explains a mere seven per cent of the entire gender wage gap,” Dr Sin said.

While those who have experienced the gender pay gap and have studied it, the findings are not surprising. But for those for whom facts are a lifestyle option, this is unlikely to do anything to change their minds.

Claiming that the gender pay gap is a myth, and that the gap in pay is due simply because women are more likely to work in lower paying jobs, or even a conspiracy of angry lesbians, is a tired argument that is perpetrated by people with their own agenda to keep the status quo.

These deniers are likely the very men and women-hating women who benefit from the gender pay gap, the ones that espouse how hard they work and claim that luck and privilege had nothing to do with it.

They’re also likely to be offended by affirmative action and claim that it’s simply a coincidence that the most financially rewarded people in this country are white men.

Hmm. I guess white dudes are just more talented and harder working than everyone else.

This report will be a powerful tool in understanding where the gender pay gap originated and how it continues to bleed money from women’s pay checks, and gives us a real opportunity to try and address this imbalance.

But it also won’t shift the fatigued whingeing from a group of people whose arguments have the sophistication of a toddler with a crayon stuck up its nose.

We’ll continue to be subjected to tired opinions that have as much creditability and relevance as those of flat-earthers. It’s not enough that women get paid less, but we also have to be exposed to their Twitter rants and homemade newsletters.

But why rely on facts when we have opinions?

Originally published as The gender pay gap is real. Here’s proof