Sunday 30 April 2017

Women are still the majority of the low paid workers in Australia - a fact that is conveniently ignored by government


The Australian Taxation Office publishes a range of statistics which, despite the time lag, state and federal governments and their agencies rely on for a financial profile of the nation.

This April the data release covers the financial year 2014-15.

Table 3: Individuals – selected income items, 2013–14 to 2014–15 income years 
Income item
2013–14
2014–15

Individuals (no.)
Average ($)
Median ($)
Individuals (no.)
Average ($)
Median ($)
Salary or wages
10,304,687
56,689
46,656
10,469,919
57,576
47,502
Gross interest
7,335,773
1,821
162
7,659,362
1,622
138
Dividends – franked amount
2,861,982
7,971
506
2,849,504
7,776
549
Dividends – franking credit
2,855,343
3,422
218
2,843,250
3,338
237
Allowances, earnings, tips, director's fees etc
2,297,379
3,801
463
2,344,140
3,778
453
Net rent
2,033,973
−1,828
−1,675
2,077,235
−1,749
−1,624
Net non-primary production amount
1,748,849
28,993
5,122
1,786,937
28,582
4,927
Net income or loss from business – non-primary production transferred from item P8
1,078,383
26,269
12,095
1,122,260
26,192
12,221
Dividends – unfranked amount
1,060,280
887
78
1,064,264
942
84
Australian Government allowances and payments like Newstart, Youth Allowance and Austudy payment
922,538
5,664
4,942
966,709
5,906
5,178
Australian Government pensions and allowances
645,097
10,127
10,250
676,083
10,318
10,368
Net capital gain
609,678
23,585
1,901
672,484
25,944
2,137
Total income or loss
12,964,285
59,851
44,697
13,213,814
60,714
45,471
Note Total income or loss: components do not add to the total number of taxpayers because taxpayers may declare more than one type of income. Some components of total income are not listed in this table. The count, average and median for total income or loss are calculated including zeroes.

Whichever way one looks at salary/wage line in this table it clearly shows that ordinary Australian workers are not doing well, with half having annual incomes below $47,502. That's 5.1 million people earning far less than the $195,130 base salary enjoyed by 
members of the Turnbull Government who are even now looking for ways to reduce the takehome pay of such workers. 

Of the 13.21 million individuals who lodged a tax return in 2015, 6.85 million were males and 6.35 million were females. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2013-14 there were also an est. 1.22 million people of working age lived alone with a significant number of these individuals having incomes below the median annual salary/wage, so it is likely that a similar situation existed in 2014-15.

If one divides the ATO tax returns by gender it is not hard to see that more women than men would be found in the group earning less than $47,502.

This is not just a passing phase in wages growth – women have consistently been on the bottom of the wage ladder this century. This despite the fact that they are better educated now than in centuries past and so many are in paid employment.

The Guardian helpfully published a breakdown on 18 April 2017 from which I selected three graphs to illustrate the point:


In the article Greg Jericho concluded: Women made up 45% of all people earning a taxable income in 2014-15, and yet they accounted for just 25% of those in the richest 10% but 57% of those in the poorest decile……It goes without saying that if you earn a large income you are more likely to be a man and if you earn a small income you are most likely to be a woman – and it really does not matter what your job is.

The Australian Government Workplace and Gender Equality Agency stated in August 2016:

The full-time average weekly ordinary earnings for women are 16.2% less than for men.
Among non-public sector organisations with 100 or more employees, the gender pay gap for full-time annualised base salary is 19.1%, and for full-time annualised total remuneration is 24.0%.
The full-time average hourly earnings for women are 13.9% less than men's full-time average hourly earnings.
The gender pay gap in ASX 200 organisations is 28.7%.
Average graduate salaries for women are 9.4% less than for men. When factors such as personal characteristics, occupation, industry and education are accounted for, average graduate salaries for women are 4.4% less than for men.
Average superannuation balances for women at retirement are 52.8% less than those for men.
Of people aged 65 years and older receiving the aged pension, 55.6% are women.

This agency also pointed out that:

Of all women aged 20-24, 90.1% have attained year 12 qualifications or above, compared to 86.3% of men in the same age bracket.
Of all women aged 25-29, 39.6% have achieved a bachelor degree or above, compared to 30.4% of men of the same age bracket.
A slightly higher proportion of men (6.1%) aged 15-74 years attained a postgraduate degree than women (5.7%) of the same age bracket.

The reality is that women have never enjoyed equal pay across all industries and occupations and the national economy relies on them supplying cheaper labour.

So the next time your local MP tells you that he or she understands how "middle Australia" is feeling or attempts to position their family there – openly scoff at such a nonsensical viewpoint.

If your MP tells you that he/she supports the right to equal pay - walk away whilst raising a middle finger in disgust.

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