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 Stop attacking the gender gap
Julia Gillard and her fellow travellers are primed to use Labor’s job market reregulation to impose intrusive new concepts of “gender equality” on employers and the economy. They are frustrated that, despite impressive gains in female workforce participation over the past generation, men still earn more than women from paid work. But turning the gender pay gap into a target of public policy confronts several problems.
First, as the “Making it Fair” report notes, Australians do not share the longstanding “anger” of committee chairwoman and former union official Sharryn Jackson. They see pay equity as a “non-issue”. Nearly two-thirds of Australians “incorrectly” believe it is about paying men and women the same for doing the same job. They don’t share the frustration that some occupations remain “segmented” by gender. They accept that some women pass on promotions because they become more reluctant to put in long hours of work after starting a family.
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ACTU abandons men
The impact of the recession has hit male employment harder than female employment. This article in the Age shows that "in net terms, almost all the loss of full-time jobs has been among men". On top of this, the impact of unemployment on men's mental health and sense of identity is greater than that for women who often have other social roles that they can fall back upon if they find themselves unemployed. In addition, the impacts upon families and children are greater with high male unemployment than with female unemployment, as men are more likely to be the primary breadwinners. With this background it is extraordinary to see this media release from the ACTU (who should be supporting the male labour force), claiming that "Australian women are underemployed and underpaid".
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 Mothers are happy with work hours
MOST mothers working part-time are happy with the number of hours they are employed, while fathers want to work less. Almost half of all mothers return to work by the time their children are 14 months old, a new study of working families reveals. And 22 per cent of employed women with children under five work mainly from home, many self-employed, reflecting a greater emphasis on achieving a better work-life balance, according to a snapshot of Australian parents by the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
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Work, don’t whinge, ladies
PROFESSOR Mark Wooden this week learned how shocking it is to tell people the surest way to earn more is to work harder. Actually, that’s not shocking at all, is it? Common sense, really. Refreshing. But not if you’re a certain kind of professional complainer. Then you gasp at the crass rudeness of blockheads such as Wooden. Literally gasp.
To illustrate, here’s a report this week from news.com.au: “(The) pay equity gap between men and women in Australia will not close until women are prepared to work longer hours, an academic says. “Social researcher for the University of Melbourne Mark Wooden said men were earning on average 15 per cent more than women because they put in more time at the workplace.”
Quite true, of course, but read on: “The only male taking part in a National Press Club panel discussion about the pay equity gap, Prof Wooden’s remarks drew gasps from the mostly female audience.” Gasps? Here were professional women being told of a link between hours and pay, and gasping?
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Women 'must work longer hours'
THE pay equity gap between men and women in Australia will not close until women are prepared to work longer hours, an academic says. Social researcher for the University of Melbourne Mark Wooden said men were earning on average 15 per cent more than women because they put in more time at the workplace.
"All high achievers in all walks of life ... put in long hours into their activity," Professor Wooden said. "It's (the pay equity gap) got a lot to do with the fact that women are not prepared to work longer hours."
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Latest ABS time-use survey results released
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released its latest survey on how Australians use their time. The survey reveals that Australian men and women spend almost exactly the same amount of time on total work per day, showing what an egalitarian society we live in.
Yet the spin from the media was all about how women still do more housework than men, and are socially disadvantaged as a result. Typical was an article by Dewi Cooke from the Melbourne Age newspaper. We have analysed this article here to reveal the hidden gender bias of the author.
So next time you see an article in the paper about how "lazy" Australian men should do more housework, remember that they do the same amount of total work as women. Of course, it would be more equitable if men did more housework, but to really be fair, women would also have to do more paid work of the dirty, dangerous, deadly and health diminishing kind which is typical done by men.
Click here to access the source data from the ABS website.
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