How big is the gender pay gap in your sector?

Things are looking up for Australian working women; the gender pay gap hit a 20-year low in May this year at 14.6 per cent (that’s a difference of nearly $245 a week for full-time employees).

But all jobs aren’t created equal – where you work matters.

Do you know how much you bring home compared to your colleagues?

Courtesy of women’s finance publication Financy and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, this is how big the gender pay gap is in the industry you work in:

The good news

For those in public service or working for a government, legislative or regulatory entity has it the least rough (relatively speaking): pay disparity was smallest in the public administration and safety sector at 5.8 per cent.

This sector employs approximately 7 per cent of the Australian population.

Women working in retail also enjoyed less pay inequity (6.3 per cent) than those in other sectors.

More than 10 per cent of Australians are employed in the retail industry.

The bad news

The pay gap in the industry with the least pay equity – the financial and insurance services industry – actually widened in the last year. In November 2017, men in the sector were paid 26.1 per cent more; as of September 2018, the gap sits at 26.6 per cent.

Healthcare and social assistance was the industry with the second-largest gap at 25 per cent. The wage gap in this industry has also grown, rising 2.2 per cent from 22.8 per cent in November last year.

Interestingly, the sector experienced the highest growth in wages over the last 12 months, suggesting that wages growth does not necessarily mean greater pay equity.

Most significantly, the healthcare sector has the highest proportion of employed women.

The Financy Womens Index tracks the economic progress of women based on a number of economic indicators including the gender pay gap, employment, education, board representation on ASX companies, and the superannuation gender gap.

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