A brand new examine into the gender pay hole has revealed discrepancies between women and men inside their chosen occupation is the main contributor to the pay divide.
Evaluation by e61 Institute discovered that whereas women and men had been “usually segregated by occupation”, 80 per cent of the pay hole was because of girls being paid much less.
“This analysis busts the outdated fable the pay hole exists as a result of extra girls are nurses, carers, and directors,” analysis supervisor Silvia Griselda mentioned.
“What the information reveals is that a lot of the gender pay hole is as a result of girls are paid lower than males throughout the identical occupation.”
The information discovered that amongst high-paying occupations, equivalent to docs, dentists and funding bankers, girls had been paid between 10-14 per cent lower than males.
The pay hole was not defined by variations in ability or tenure, in response to the report, which discovered marriage and parenthood had a higher influence on girls.
“Australians steadily hear claims that the gender pay hole is pushed by girls not working full time or not staying with employers,” Ms Griselda mentioned.
“Our evaluation of the information reveals these components are literally fairly insignificant … The issue that does appear to drive the hole wider is private.
“Being married and having dependent kids imposes a penalty on how a lot girls earn in comparison with males. This penalty exists for girls however not for males.”
Analysis economist Elyse Dwyer mentioned the evaluation offered a sign for corporations and governments on the best way to finest scale back the gender pay hole.
“One potential purpose for the pay hole for women and men working in the identical occupation is the kind of corporations that women and men are working for,” she mentioned.
“Males could also be extra more likely to work in high-paying corporations, which require much less flexibility and longer working hours.
“One other potential purpose is that ladies could also be much less capable of pursue management alternatives or high-paying however demanding specialties throughout the identical occupation.”
Ms Dwyer mentioned corporations may slender the hole by fostering an atmosphere the place all workers, no matter gender, had been inspired to tackle parental obligations.
“This might embody being extra versatile as to when or the place work duties are accomplished, encouraging job sharing in management positions and diversifying hiring,” she mentioned.
“Merely specializing in encouraging girls into higher-paying occupations, equivalent to pilots or legal professionals, is not going to be sufficient to finish the pay hole.
“The majority of the positive aspects will extra doubtless come from improved office flexibility that permits extra girls to tackle higher-paying positions.”
The information, which seemed on the workforce aged 25-60 from the 2016 census, made a variety of findings, together with about selection of occupation.
Ladies did are likely to lean in direction of caring, nursing or clerical roles, whereas males continued to be extensively over-represented in STEM fields.
