11th grade Dispelling the myths about the Gender Pay Gap Joh

Dispelling the myths: why the gender pay

gap does not reflect the 'choices' women
make
Lisa Annese
The Diversity Council's report shows women are paid less just because they are women. So why are we still debating
the existence of the pay gap?

Women are paid less because they 'choose' to work part-time

Our report showed that there has been a significant decrease in the impact of part-time employment on the gender
pay gap. It has actually declined from 14% to 4%, in part because of an increase in higher-paid part-time roles for
women. This is good news as it means that much of the hard work that has been done on improving flexible work
options is starting to pay off.

The idea of "choice" becomes questionable, however, when one considers that overwhelmingly it is still women who
take on the bulk ofunpaid caring roles within families. There are a number of reasons for this (historical and social
norms playing a significant part) but, given that men are paid more than women, for many families it just does not
make financial sense for men to work part-time as it will result in a bigger cut to the family budget.

Women are paid less because they 'choose' lower-paying jobs

Our report showed that industrial and occupational segregation continue to be significant contributing factors to the
gender pay gap. But while occupational segregation is decreasing (i.e. the different types of roles men and women
do), the impact of industrial segregation (i.e. the different industries that men and women work in like mining or
healthcare) has increased.

Women are not "choosing" to work in lower paying industries but, when large numbers of women start to work in an
industry, they all get paid less.

Women don't have the same levels of education as men

Despite women reaching higher levels of educational attainment, there has not been an associated decrease in the

pay gap between women and men. This graph from the KPMG report makes it clear:
Helpful vocabulary;
Average individual income for women and men, by
educational attainment (2014) to consider sth: etwas in Betracht ziehen

$2,500 a cut: ein Einschnitt

$2,000 occupational: beruflich

$1,500 segregation: Trennung

$1,000 to increase: zunehmen (groser werden)

to decrease: abnehmen (kleiner werden)

$500

0%
Doctorate Graduate Bachelor Adranced Certificate Year 12 Below Year Source of the article:
12
masters diploma or degree (or dplomac
graduate honours) diploma
certificate
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-
Average income for women (2014) (LHS) business/2016/nov/08/dispelling-the-myths-
Average income for men (2014)(LHS) why-the-gender-pay-gap-does-not-reflect-the-
Percentage difference in income (RHS)
choices-women-make (2016)
Source: Melbourne Institute 2007 and 2014, The Househoid Income and Labour Dynamics in
Australia (HILDA) Survey, Wave 7 and 14