Women who work full-time earn about $250 a week less than men.Credit:Louie Douvis
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show men working full-time earned an average weekly salary of $1907.10 in November,compared to $1653.60 for full-time women,taking the gender pay gap to a record low of 13.3 per cent.
Annual wages growth reached 3.3 per cent last year,ABS data showed,a 10-year-high. But with annual inflation at 7.8 per cent,the gap between wages and prices is now 4.5 per cent – the largest since the bureau began its wage price index in 1998.
Workplace Gender Equality Agency director Mary Wooldridge said the gender pay gap was an added handbrake on women’s ability to make ends meet.
“With inflation at 7.8 per cent,and rising,everyday essentials are becoming increasingly unaffordable,” she said.
“Over the course of one year,the weekly difference of $253.50 adds up to $13,182. That’s income that could have gone towards meeting bills,mortgage repayments or additional contributions to superannuation funds for retirement.”
Wooldridge said Thursday’s data did not show the full picture because it did not include bonuses,superannuation or part-time and casual work.