28 February 2007
Pay inequality limits choices for men and women
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures released last week are bad news for families wanting to better balance their paid work and family responsibilities, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) President, Acting Sex Discrimination Commissioner and Commissioner responsible for Age Discrimination, John von Doussa, said today.
Mr von Doussa said that the Average Weekly Earnings figures show a 1.4 per cent increase in the gender pay gap over the last two years. This means that the average full time working woman currently earns 83.6 cents in the male dollar compared with 85 cents in February 2005.
"This drop should be a major concern to all Australians struggling to juggle their paid work and family responsibilities," Mr von Doussa said.
"HREOC has recently completed a major research project looking at what Australian families need to better equip them to balance their paid and unpaid responsibilities. It is clear that as long as women continue to earn less than men, they will be under more pressure to give up or reduce their paid employment in order to meet unpaid caring obligations.
"This pay inequality also limits choices for men to undertake a greater role in the home because families cannot afford to lose the larger part of a double income.
"To create real choices for men and women we need to put more effort into progressing pay equity. We need to make it easier for families to manage their paid work and family responsibilities.
Mr von Doussa said the much awaited final paper into HREOC's Women, men, work and family project, which was launched in 2005, would be released next week.
The final paper, It's About Time: Women, men, work and family, is based on extensive national community consultation and input from 181 submissions from families, employers, unions and community groups.
The paper makes 45 recommendations for policy and legislative change to help Australian families better manage their paid work and family commitments.
It's About Time will be launched on Wednesday, 7 March in Sydney and will be available on the Commission's website at www.humanrights.gov.au from 11am.
Media contact: Louise McDermott (02) 9284 9851 or 0419 258 597
Last updated 25 January, 2008
