The gender pay gap is an obvious factor in the disparity between the average male and female superannuation balance at retirement.
But what’s not obvious is the social behaviour that perpetuates this gap. Just like David Morrison took issue with ‘guys’ being used in the workplace (#Wordsatwork), the language we use with our children could be fostering unconscious gender biases and the persistent pay gap.
It’s no secret that the average female super balance is around half that of their male counterparts. One of the main factors cited for this imbalance is the pay gap that exists between men and women. In a recent parliamentary report: ‘A husband is not a retirement plan’ it was estimated that over the past 20 years the gender pay gap has hovered between 15 and 19 per cent.
The report highlighted several contributing factors to the pay gap including a lack of women in senior positions and the fact women are more likely to take time out of the workforce to care for children, the elderly or the disabled. But it also focused on stereotypes that persist about the work women ‘should’ do and the reality that many female dominated industries attract lower wages – what’s known as ‘industrial segregation’.
Industrial segregation is in part responsible for female postgraduates earning $15,000 less than their male counterparts. Put simply, fewer women than men are gravitating towards the ‘STEM’ (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) based industries which are higher paid. Instead women make up the majority of workers in lower paid health, social assistance, education and training industries. No doubt there’s an argument to be made that these industries are just as valuable and should be remunerated accordingly. But, why aren’t women attracted to higher paying industries?
I was told growing up that boys are ‘naturally’ better than girls at mathematics. What tripe. And I recently read Steve Biddulph’s ‘Raising Girls’ that pointed out how we unconsciously treat girls differently from a young age. He cited a study revealing how parents communicate with a different focus depending on the gender of their child. If talking to a boy, parents will say ‘Look! There are three rabbits in the field over there’. If talking to a girl, parents say ‘Look at those cute rabbits’. Our lack of interest in STEM industries is fostered from a young age.
With Australia’s gender pay gap still shamefully above the OECD average, there are many battles to be fought to achieve equal pay and to narrow the disparity in men’s and women’s economic security in retirement. But, being aware of how we may be conditioning our kids through communication seems at least a tangible, easily implementable change in the midst of a complex problem. Let’s give our kids a level playing field to decide whether they want to focus on engineering or teaching. And let’s be more mindful of our #Wordsathome.
