Like most working parents, I welcomed the recent announcement of free play-based learning preschool education for children in NSW and Victoria. Although my three boys are well beyond preschool now, I recognise how this development will help parents, particularly mothers, shed some of the pressure of childcare responsibilities, giving them the confidence of having a competent ‘village’ to help raise their kids.
But the elephant in the room is, where are these additional childcare workers going to come from? How can we bridge the gender pay gap and really even the playing field?
There’s already a shortage of childcare workers and their pay rates are incredibly low. What incentives are being offered to entice more people into the profession, and when will start to value the importance of care-based work?
When I was working on my research project into gender and the workplace, it was my son who helped me to see that the biases around gender are a type of coding, inspired by his own computer coding lessons at school. We’re coded by the Gender Code to see men and women as intrinsically different. And to lean into stereotypes around men being better at things like mathematics and science, and women being better at creative and caring roles.
So if we look at how the gender pay gap is calculated, based on the average full-time weekly earnings of men vs average full-time weekly earnings of women, in my opinion, the biggest contributor is the difference in pay across roles and professions. The majority male professions (with competition at their centre) are paid more than the majority female professions (with care at their centre). As a society, we value competitive sectors more than we value sectors based on care.
This week’s data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) shows that across all generations, less than 50 per cent of women are working full time and earn consistently less than men in every age bracket.
If the aim is to bridge the gap, it won’t happen without more men in caring roles. It’s basic mathematics.
Until we actively, deliberately and consistently encourage and incentivise boys and men to enter caring professions – such as childcare – the gender pay gap and gender pay disparities across the Australian workforce will continue. And we’ll struggle to fill much-needed roles in industry like preschool education and teaching.
If we are encouraging more women into male-led and majority male professions which are typically better paid BUT at the same time, not encouraging more men to pursue careers in caring professions which are typically lower paid, only half the job is being done.
So how can we truly address the gender pay gap and have real equality across our workforce?
We need to start early.
Gender stereotyping starts from birth, with studies revealing toddlers are spoken to differently, based on their gender. Boys are typically spoken to about counting and numbers as much as three times more than girls, and another study found that in museums, boys are engaged with 2-3 times more than girls.
As parents and carers, we can encourage our boys to value caring. To play with dolls, and to contribute to the caring duties of the overall household as they grow older. To see they’re part of a team in which everyone contributes, rather than relying on the women in their lives to care for them.
And as a society, we need to start truly valuing the importance of the carers in our world – the childcare workers, nurses, teachers and aged care professionals who are essential to the fabric of our world. And reflect this value with attractive salaries, career development opportunities and working conditions.
Without getting these basics right, we’re just stretching an already at-capacity workforce further, and expecting them to do more, with less.