Yahoo Finance Half of Aussies may earn less if they live in this state
Aussie women living in Western Australia are suffering from the largest gender pay gap in the country, according to new research from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).
The report outlined that the main reason for the gender pay gap was a higher concentration of men working in higher-paid industries and a higher concentration of women in lower-paid industries.
The report found that, for Western Australia, the gap in total remuneration would halve from 32.1 per cent to 16.5 per cent if a 40:40:20 (40 per cent women, 40 per cent men, 20 per cent any gender) gender balance was achieved across all industries.
Also read: Salary woes: War for talent eases and so do paypackets
Also read: 'Overpaid': The $2700 a week job sparking fierce debate
In the Northern Territory, the gender pay gap would reduce by two thirds, while New South Wales and Victoria would see gender pay gaps fall by 7.4 and 6.5 percentage points respectively.
Queensland recorded a larger margin of 8.8 percentage points.
Report author and Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre director Alan Duncan said the report created a better understanding of how the different concentrations of women and men working in individual states and across industry sectors affected the overall gender pay gap.
How do we fix the problem?
“To achieve a 40:40:20 gender concentration for industries in Australia, gender balance needs to be addressed in both directions,” Duncan said.
“This means increasing the share of women working in male-dominated occupations and industries and growing the share of men in female-dominated professions.”
Duncan said the pay gap was wider in states where more men were employed in higher-paying jobs, such as mining and construction.
“We also found women made up a lesser percentage of the workforce for key industries in those states, including only 16 per cent of the construction sector workforce in WA, compared to 31 per cent in Victoria and 27 per cent in New South Wales,” Duncan said.
“On the other hand, we found women made up 80 per cent of the workforce in the healthcare and social assistance sector, and two thirds of workers in the education and training sector.
“The evidence indicates that women don’t have the same opportunities to earn higher wages as their male colleagues.”
Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to the free Fully Briefed daily newsletter.
