Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) has published the first in a three-part series on new perspectives on gender economic inequality, revealing just how much gender shapes jobs, work and pay across Australia.
Paper 1 introduces the new Gender Segregation Intensity Scale (GSIS), designed to measure and monitor changes in occupational segregation and a new gender pay gap data to help fill longstanding evidence gaps. This includes new gender pay gap data for over 600 occupations and intersectional pay gap data for First Nations, migrant and culturally and linguistically diverse people.
The report highlights the scale of occupational segregation, which remains largely unchanged over time. From 2006 to 2021, nearly 70% of jobs stayed at the same gender segregation intensity and today, only 1 in 5 workers are in ‘gender-balanced’ occupations.
The impact of inequality is even more evident for First Nations women, who face a 10-year gender pay gap of 38.1%, reflecting compounding barriers and discrimination in the world of work, education and training.
Despite more women participating in the workforce than ever before, men still earn more than women in 98% of occupations. Over 100 occupations have gender pay gaps greater than 25%, and in nearly 30, men earn more than 35% extra.
Explore more insights and find the gender pay gap or level of gender segregation in your job on the JSA website.
JSA invited stakeholders earlier this year, to share their insights and experiences on gender inequity and these diverse perspectives have helped shape the findings. We now have clearer data to drive real change, and this new evidence is critical to designing more nuanced and targeted policy.
Paper 2 Education and Training Divides - Gendered Skills, Pathways and Outcomes, will provide additional insights on education and training divides, and the last paper includes recommendations to speed up progress for change.
For more information, download Paper 1 New Perspectives on Old Problems - Gendered Jobs, Work and Pay.
