Equal Pay Day: ‘enough is enough’
Women working full-time in Australia are paid on average, 17% less than men who do the same work. Yesterday (1 September 2011) was a day that marked Equal Pay Day; aiming to raise awareness of the pay gap that exists between genders in many industries and sectors throughout the nation.
Women working full-time in Australia are paid on average, 17% less than men who do the same work. Yesterday (1 September 2011) was a day that marked Equal Pay Day; aiming to raise awareness of the pay gap that exists between genders in many industries and sectors throughout the nation.
It would take Australian women an extra two months of worka year to earn the same as their male counterparts.
According to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA), yesterday was chosen as the national day to raise awareness of the need for equal pay among women and men.
Assistant national secretary for United Voice, Sue Lines, tells DPS eNews gender is the major barrier, which prevents aged care workers from achieving sufficient wage increases.
She says: “Wage injustice in aged care is exacerbated by societal conventions that associate caring work as an extension of unpaid and undervalued work that women perform at home.”
“However, we know that men working in aged care tend to earn more than women. This demonstrates the way in which gender is implicated in perceptions of skill.”
The unions believe the federal government, as the majority funder of the aged care industry, must exert its control over wages and intervene to achieve wage justice.
The Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) also acknowledged the wages disparity affecting Australia’s under-resourced aged care sector – where women make up more than 90% of the workforce.
According to the ANF, the majority of nurses and AINs are women, who are being paid far less than they deserve.
Nurses in the aged care sector are paid between $168 and $300 on average less per week than nurses working in hospitals.
Provider of human services, Baptistcare, was just one organisation to advocate for change.
Baptistcare chief executive, Dr Lucy Morris, said the inequality means there is less money for child care, food, housing and education, especially for many poor and struggling families.
“While people find excuses for the discrepancy, it is direct discrimination based on gender… it seems our society is comfortable to let this entrenched behaviour continue, as leaders, companies and governments turn their heads,” Dr Morris said.
“We urge our governments to provide the leadership essential to end this discrimination,” she said.
