National gender pay gap slammed during Equal Pay Day

ONE group of Aussie workers are missing out on hundreds of dollars every single week — and the reason why is “shameful”.

LIKE many women, Julia* “blindly trusted” her ex-husband had her best interests at heart.

So she wasn’t worried when, after falling pregnant and leaving the workforce, the family finances fell to her partner.

But when the relationship broke down, the Melbourne mum-of-three was left with no access to any cash at all, and is now “at the mercy of the law” to decide her entitlements.

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“As women we start out being financially independent with our own cars and bank accounts but when we get married, have a child and stop working … all of a sudden the control of the finances is taken over,” she told news.com.au.

“It just happens organically, and it needs to change. If you give over complete control, you can find yourself in a position where you have absolutely no access to your finances when something goes wrong, and you can be left in a very scary position.”

Today is Equal Pay Day — a date marking the extra 62 days women had to work to earn the same amount as men did on June 30 this year — and Julia said it was especially fitting to discuss women’s financial vulnerability.

In fact, it’s an issue championed by newly-launched women’s homelessness charity, the White Caravan Foundation, with directors Juliet Potter and Annalise Brown claiming women in their late 40s and 50s were especially disadvantaged due to inequality in pay.

They said the growing epidemic of women’s homelessness was caused by a lack of financial independence and stability, reinforced by women leaving the workforce to have children.

And the pair argued working women were also often “overlooked for promotions, don’t get the same pay rises and ultimately have greatly reduced superannuation”.

Ms Brown said the gender pay gap led to lower lifetime earnings, less financial independence, less security and less power.

“We need to empower men and women to be having constructive conversations about how we can close the gender pay gap,” she said.

“This means education, empowerment and understanding that it’s better for everyone to be working on an even playing field.

“Diversity in our workforce is only going to make it stronger, more innovative and set up for success.”

Ms Potter said women need to “start screaming in the streets” for pay equality.

“The time to act is now,” she said.

Using the latest Average Weekly Earnings data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) calculated the national gender pay gap as 14.6 per cent for full-time employees — a difference of $244.80 per week.

Director Libby Lyons said women still faced “major obstacles” when it came to fair pay.

“Women’s work is undervalued and this prevents them from reaching their full potential in the workplace. This is detrimental for both individual women and the economy,” she said.

“It is shameful that Australian women working full-time need to work for, on average, an additional two months to earn what men earned in a year.”

FlexCareers CEO Natalie Goldman said the “inexcusable” gender pay gap was a complex issue.

“The reality is that women spend a lot of time out of the workforce due to a lack of viable options and when they do return, they’re forced to take on more junior or menial roles,” she said.

“It’s worrying that despite being capable and qualified, women are often sidelined when it comes to roles that truly challenge them and make the best use of their skills.”

Ms Goldman said a huge problem facing Aussie women was a lack of flexible working options and quality part-time work, particularly for mothers.

*Name has been changed to protect the person’s identity

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