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Gender pay gap remains a reality

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The gender pay gap remains high, with a study showing that little has changed in the last 20 years.

For the past two decades, the gap has hovered between 15 per cent and 19 per cent, standing at 18.8 per cent in February this year.

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New research released on Wednesday shows in comparison to men, women continue to be paid less, spend almost twice as much time on unpaid work and retire with almost 50 per cent less superannuation.

Commissioned by ANZ, the report looks into gender inequality in Australia and examines the differences between women and men in the workforce.

Earlier this year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released figures indicating women earned, on average, $300 less per week than men.

The ANZ report endorsed this view, outlining an average $1380 per week earnings for men, compared to $908 for women.

Over a lifetime, this comes to a $700,000 difference.

But it is much worse for women who take extended leave, particularly to have children, with the career break resulting in a decrease in pay, along with loss of skills, workplace experience and training.

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“Women play a critical role in global economies – however our report shows they can still earn up to 36 per cent less than men and retire with around half the superannuation,” ANZ CEO Global Wealth Joyce Phillips said.

“We know women are at a financial disadvantage, however this research also confirms what’s really restricting the financial future of women is the inherent structural bias in the way the workplace, education, social and legal systems are established.”

Statistically, women account for 20.4 per cent of ASX 200 boards and 31 per cent of the country’s parliamentarians.

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