By Norah The gender pay disparity, or the difference between average earnings of men and women, indicates that women tend not to earn as much as men.
Research shows that full time working men make more than full time working women in all fields and occupational types. Even though women get paid less, they may also be at greater financial disadvantage.
Financial Factors That Disadvantage Women
These social and cultural trends can drive the pay gaps and work independently to negatively affect women’s earnings relative to men.
Superannuation Fund Balances
As they approach retirement, women tend to have less money. 47.3% feel there is an inequalities in superannuation accounts at retirement. The average superannuation payout for women is 36% lower than that of men. In fact, each year men get $12 billion less than women.
Women have an average of less superpower than their male counterparts in every stage of the work life cycle. The gap is slowly closing but equality is not possible until 2122, at the current rate.
This gap could be due to the fact that women are more inclined to change jobs as they provide care for their parents and children. A greater number of women work part-time and in casual jobs.
Family and Caregiving
If you’re a woman, you probably do more caring and family work than the men in your home.
Family responsibilities may be a factor in the pay gap. This could negatively impact women’s earning capacity. Women work 64.4% less on unpaid care work than men (36.1%) This means that every hour men devote to unpaid domestic care, women dedicate an hour and 48 minutes.
This can be a financial disadvantage. It can also lead to interruptions to an individual’s work history. Women are more likely to be involved in child care, parenting, and other non-paid domestic tasks, which means that they have less time for a fulltime, high-earning or full-time job. Women also face greater difficulties when it comes time to dedicate the hours required for certain occupations due to historically gendered roles.
Disadvantage In Divorce
Another potential financial disadvantage could be the effects of a breakdown in a marriage, which can make it more difficult for women to get their money back. A staggering 40% to 50% percent of marriages end up in divorce. Of course, many women are not responsible for household finances and may not have an accurate understanding of the assets they possess either separately or together. Poor financial literacy could have an impact on how much women are entitled to in the case of a split.
Since women are more likely be to leave the workforce to care for their family and elderly parents, it is important that they are compensated for the time they have spent caring for them.
Undervaluation of ‘Female’ Jobs
Another factor that can cause financial hardship for women is the undervaluation or exclusion of traditionally feminine jobs. Lower pay is available for female-dominated roles in healthcare, social service, and retail than in’male industries’ like construction and mines.
These “male industries” tend to offer higher discretionary payments such as commissions, bonuses, profit-sharing, shift allowances, and profit-sharing than other female-dominated sectors.
Further, if a woman is seeking to join these male-dominated occupations you might face significant barriers. These could include social expectations, gender stereotyping and bias from employers.
Bias In Hiring And Pay
Discrimination against women is likely in all areas of employment, including pay, promotion and hiring. It doesn’t really matter if this bias is unconscious, conscious or otherwise, it places women at a clear economic advantage. They are less likely than men to get the job, be promoted, receive a salary increase, or get a fair pay rise.
This might be due to cultural biases as well as gender stereotypes about the types of work women can do. These preconceptions could have negative consequences for women who are not able to fit into male-dominated fields, occupations, or workplaces.
Lack of Female Mentors and Role models
The lack of women as mentors and role models could also result in financial disadvantages. A mere 17.1% percent of CEOs are women and women hold just 25% and 30% respectively of critical management positions.
Women are more likely to have to shoulder the responsibility of gendered responsibilities. This means that decision makers might believe women aren’t suitable for senior positions. There are fewer female mentors and leadership roles, which may make it more difficult to get women into higher-paying senior roles.
Women are financially disadvantageed
In just about all areas of life, women end up being more financially depressed than their male counterparts, such as retirement nest eggs and earning potential.
All of these outcomes may be due to social, cultural and financial factors that undervalue women’s contributions and encourage bias in pay and hiring decisions. To correct the imbalance, it will take considerable time and effort. Both the private and public sectors need to play leadership roles in order for women to enjoy more of the economic and social benefits they undoubtedly contributed to.