Equal pay is the law. So where is it?

Women are pivotal to the health of the economy. So why are we financially so poorly off?

A couple of years ago, I was deeply shocked by the news that the fastest growing cohort of homeless people is women in their 50s. They are mainly out of sight because they sleep in their cars and couches. That is both shocking and outrageous but not that surprising. The financial well-being of women is well behind that of men in Australia. The numbers are nothing short of disgraceful.

A recent report (2022) by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency found that the gender pay gap in Australia amounts to almost $1B a week. Why?

33% is attributed to discrimination

A 6% -18% pay gap widens with your male co-workers as you progress in your career.

An 11.3% - 13.8% gap in the traditional and lower-paid female-dominated industries like healthcare, social work and education. This is the so-called "Caring Economy".

Add to those baked-in problems the issues of career breaks to have children, domestic violence, financial abuse and marriage breakups and women are behind the 8-ball before they start.

But that doesn't mean you get to say "woe is me" and give up. Instead, it means you will have to find ways to know what you want and then work at achieving it. At least you will while the various governments of the day decide to fix the issues or not.

Rider:  In the case of domestic violence, serious financial abuse and severe mental stress, GET HELP. This advice is for those in less extreme situations. 

I want to focus on women for all these reasons but also because I think we still promote the Princess complex when we raise girls. The excellent idea is that someone will sweep us off our feet and forever take care of us. 

The excellent idea is that someone will sweep us off our feet and forever take care of us.  That's not working.

That's not working. Unfortunately, aside from the excessive pressure it puts on our young men to PROVIDE, I think some women still believe that knowing or understanding money is somehow grubby or not feminine.   

So I am making it my mission to share as much financial knowledge as possible with the women who read this website.

It seems the blatant disregard for women and their work is coming home to roost. There is a crisis in Aged Care, Teaching, Health care, hospitality and Childcare, all part of the 'female economy. But hey, what would all those fellows be doing if there weren't women around to keep house, ferry the kids, have the kids, be taken care of in a hospital or a doctor's office? Who would do the shopping, cooking, and care for their mum in an aged care community or educate their children in daycare and early education? And, yeah, sorry, on top of that, contribute to the household budget by working hours that are underpaid and stressful on top of all the other crap?

Last May 2022, there were 480,000 vacant positions in Australia. Some of that is because immigration was severely curtailed during COVID. But much of it was because women left or had left paid employment in Australia. It just wasn't worth doing. Why?

• The wages were low

• The jobs were casualised.

• The daycare was expensive or non-existent.

• They were still doing most of the domestic work.

Seriously, can you imagine a worse scenario that making a shopping list between educating your children at home (multiple years) and trying to work yourself? Quick, can you clean the bathroom before you send that email? Cripes! How much do you want from me?

So there is this economic crisis with the government wanting more women in the workforce. We cannot resolve the low unemployment/high vacancy rate without enticing women into the force. Women will not re-enter the workforce without the above issues, at least in part, being addressed. But to address them may take years.

Almost 33% of young families live in a 'daycare desert'. There is no care available. So we desperately need to train more daycare workers (5 months to 4 years of training, depending on the qualification). But the women who want to enter that field will wish for higher wages and permanent jobs before undertaking the activity. That's just the first step to getting young women into the workforce.

Those needing daycare can't commit to days of the week for the daycare centre without a permanent job and a decent income. Last year, it was estimated that a woman working in the 'caring economy' would spend up to 60% of her income on daycare alone. And the point is? Exactly! Why would you go through the drama of putting yourself out for a shit return?

It's the same with aged care. These are our most vulnerable citizens. These are our parents and grandparents! And yet, we ask these nurses and aids to take care of things that we can't or won't do and treat them like crap with poor wages and challenging conditions. Many aged care workers must work multiple jobs to make up enough hours to live a decent lifestyle. How did we discover this? With the inadvertent spread of COVID during the pandemic. Don't shoot the messenger, people. They were forced into this situation because of the labour laws around what determined casual and permanent positions—just another business rort.

And what young family can commit to a mortgage or even an inner-city rent these days without having both partners working full-time? Without permanency, our neighbourhoods and citizens are rootless and frightened.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, making me very cross. We were all so concerned about the queen bee executive women 'leaning in' and breaking the 'glass ceiling' that we forgot about all those worker bees that allow those women and men to get on with whatever they are doing.

I'm not cross with men in general, either. I'm not a man-hater. I raised sons. But there is very much a cultural straitjacket in Australia that needs to be thrown off. Only men can do it. Some are trying. Others shrink from the pressure. It's an individual thing but is to be encouraged.

Australian women have been granted equal pay via the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission 3 times in cases heard in 1972, 1973 and 1974. and we still don't have it.

Much of this information has been gathered from a book called "Leaning Out" by Kristine Ziwinca. I highly recommend it. It is not a long book, just 105 pages, but it will make your blood boil at the injustice it documents.

We have to work harder at helping each other and helping ourselves to our prosperity.