Kris Grant

Australia’s gender wages gap has narrowed cycle to the lowest level on record, new data show, and it could keep on narrowing given wages growth for females is easily outpacing wages growth for men given strong growth in full-time employment for women, according to Kris Grant, CEO of management consultancy ASPL Group.

The gap in average weekly ordinary full-time earnings, the most commonly cited of the gender pay gap measures, fell for the second straight cycle to the lowest level on record, down to 13.0%, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The gap has narrowed on the back of a strong increase in full-time wages in female-dominated jobs such as teaching and nursing.

The gap is now around 0.9 points lower than just before the pandemic (13.9% in November 2019), 4.4 points below where it was a decade ago (17.4% in May 2013) and around 2.0 points below the pre-mining boom low in 2005, the ABS said.  Other data released today show that Australia’s unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 3.7% in July (seasonally adjusted).

ASPL Group CEO Kris Grant said: “Women, who comprise almost 50% of the Australian workforce, are benefiting from strong gains in full time employment and robust wages growth. Full-time adult average weekly total earnings for women jumped 4.6% over the year to May 2023, well above growth in male average weekly earnings of 3.6%.

“The number of women employed full time stood at a seasonally adjusted 3.84 million in July 2023, up from 3.63 million a year earlier, representing jobs growth of 5.8%. That compares to growth in male full-time employment, which stood at 6.0 million in July 2023 up from 5.82 million a year earlier, representing growth of just 3.1%,” Grant said.

“Several factors are contributing to the large gain in the number of women employed. The emergence of more flexible working arrangements in Australia has helped to boost female workforce participation. The rising cost of living is also forcing some women into the workforce, to help meet the spiralling cost of living and rising mortgage repayments,” Grant said.

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