International Women's Day: Women lose ground at work and at home

07/03/2007

Recent research showing that women's pay has dropped by 2 per cent under the Federal Government's Industrial Relations laws is another blow for women already faced with the challenges of unequal pay, the high cost of child-care and increasing demands from the workplace, Victorian Equal Opoprtunity and Human Rights Commission CEO Dr Helen Szoke said today.

"International Women's Day is seen as a time to celebrate the advances that women have made over the years, but recent trends suggest that women are losing ground rather than making advances," said Dr Szoke.

Research conducted by Brisbane's Griffith University indicates that real average earnings for women in the private sector have fallen by 2 per cent and a majority of award workers have suffered a real wage cut averaging almost 1 per cent under the new minimum wage setting process.

Dr Szoke, who will participate in the Victorian Trades Hall Council's International Women's Day Rally tomorrow, said women were bearing the brunt of the IR changes because they are more likely to work casually or part-time, and that this was causing strain on families trying to balance paid employment and parenting.

"We have seen from experience that AWAs often include less access to annual leave, sick leave, paid maternity leave and carer's leave - all provisions that are essential to working mothers. And with the increased casualisation of the workforce, and more workers being forced onto AWAs, fathers are also losing the entitlements they rely on to fulfil their parenting responsibilities," she said.

These figures were followed by news that the pay gap between men and women has increased again. The Australian Bureau of Statistics'Average Weekly Earnings figures show an increase of 1.4 per cent in the gender pay gap over the last two years, meaning that the average full time working woman now earns 83.6 cents for every dollar earned by her male counterpart, compared with 85 cents in February 2005.

"Pay equity is a simple idea: men and women should receive equal pay for work of equal value. Until the playing field is levelled, decisions about who stays home with the children will always be made along gender lines," said Dr Szoke.

Dr Szoke also noted other challenges, such as discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace, that are still real issues for many women.

"In 2005/2006 the Commission received over 370 complaints of sexual harassment and sex discrimination lodged by women. Almost two-thirds of all complaints, regardless of characteristic, are lodged by women, which is a strong indicator that women are more vulnerable to unfair treatment in all aspects of life," she said.

International Women's Day comes just after the release of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's new report on work and family which proposes changes that include new anti-discrimination legislation, access to parental leave and flexible workplace arrangements, changes to family tax benefits and child-care rebates, and support for early childhood education and care services.

"The report makes it clear that balancing work and family is not an issue just for women and International Women's Day offers us another platform to call for real change and action." said Dr Szoke.

Speakers at the rally include Sharan Burrow, ACTU President, Julia Gillard, Opposition Deputy Leader and IR Spokesperson, and Eloise Southby-Halbish, Australian Netball Team member.

Media enquiries to Alex Manning, 0407 328 633