The gender pay disparity, or the difference between male and female earnings, indicates that women are less likely to make more than men.
Research shows that full time working men make more than full time working women in all fields and occupational types. Women may be further financially disadvantageed by not only being less paid, but also because of other factors.
Financial Factors That Disadvantage Women
These social or cultural trends may be both driving the pay gap and working separately to negatively effect women’s earnings relative.
Superannuation Fund Balances
As they approach retirement, women tend to have less money. 47.3% feel there is an inequalities in retirement superannuation accounts. The average superannuation payout for women is 36% lower than that of men. In fact, each year men get $12 billion less than women.
At all stages of their working life, women have an average of less superpowers than their male counterparts. The gap is slowly closing but equality is unlikely 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 families. A greater number of women work in casual or part-time jobs.
Family and Caregiving
If you’re a female, you likely do more caring and family work than the guys in your household.
Family responsibilities may be a factor in the pay gap. This could negatively impact women’s earning capacity. Unpaid care work accounts for 64.4%, while 36.1% of men spend that same amount. This means that every hour men devote to domestic or unpaid work, women dedicate an hour and 48 minutes.
This is a financial disadvantage, since it can result in interruptions to a person’s work history. Women are more likely than men to care for and raise children. Women also face more challenges due to the historically gendered responsibilities they have when it comes time to dedicate longer hours to certain occupations.
Disadvantage In Divorce
Another possible financial disadvantage is the effects of a marital breakup, which can affect women more than men when money is concerned. A staggering 40% to 50% percent of marriages end up in divorce. Often, divorce occurs because women are not responsible for household finances. In the event there is a marital breakup, women may not receive a fair share of their financial assets.
Since women are more likely be to leave the workforce to care for elderly parents and their children, it is important that they are compensated for any caregiving hours they have given.
Undervaluing Female Jobs
Another factor that can cause financial hardship for women is the undervaluation or exclusion of traditionally considered ‘female’ jobs. Lower pay is available for female-dominated roles in healthcare, social service, and retail than for those in’male industries’ like construction, mining, and mining.
In addition, these so called male industries often offer higher discretionary payments such as commissions, bonuses, profit sharing, profit-sharing, shift allowances, and other benefits than the female-dominated ones.
Further, if a woman is seeking these male-dominated occupations, there could be strong barriers. This could include social expectations and gender stereotyping throughout your education years.
Bias In Hiring And Pay
Discrimination against women is likely to occur in employment, pay, and promotion decisions. It doesn’t really matter if this bias is conscious of unconscious. Women have a clear financial advantage due to their lower chances of getting the job, being promoted, receiving a raise, or a fair pay.
This might be due to cultural biases as well as gender stereotypes about the types of work that 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 Mentors and Female Role Models
Last, there could be financial disadvantages for those who lack mentors or role models from women. 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 may be assuming that women don’t fit into senior positions. There are fewer female mentors and leadership roles, which may make it harder to get women into higher-paying senior roles.
Women are financially poor
Women are often more financially vulnerable than their male counterparts in all aspects of life, such as retirement nest eggs, earnings potential, and unpaid labor for family members, and even divorce.
All of these outcomes may be due to social, cultural, economic, and political factors that undervalue women’s contributions and promote biases in hiring or pay decisions. To correct the imbalance, it will likely take considerable time and effort. Both the private and public sectors should take leadership roles in bringing change to women so they can enjoy more of the positive economic, social, and cultural outcomes they undoubtedly contributed to.
