Underprivileged Women In Australia Essay

Western women have traditionally been perceived as the inferior sex, or the domestic partner, subjected wholly to the private sphere, and stripped of legal rights and standing. Meanwhile, men are depicted as the breadwinner, the strong, masculine and dominant partner, who belongs primarily to the public sphere. These historic gender norms have been deeply imbedded within Australia’s social foundation, and although society has gradually shifted away from these roles, evidence suggests that this gender inequality still riddles the modern day workplace. Liberal feminist groups have embraced this issue, and have classified it as being a true barrier to achieving the ultimate gender equality goal. Consequently, these liberal feminists along

Social inequality is a problematic phenomenon that occurs all around the world and affects both the developed and developing nations. It is defined as “the unequal distribution of social, political and economic resources within a social collective” (van Krieken et al. 2013, p. 205). Inequality is closely connected with social stratification, a system of social hierarchy that positions individuals and groups into categories according to social variables such as class or ethnicity (van Krieken et al. 2013, p. 485). This stratification has a significant impact on the opportunity that an individual may have to move up the hierarchy of inequality (Gill 2017a).

The gender wage gap is the difference in earnings between women and men in the workplace. It is a widely recognized indicator of women’s economic equality, and is measured by comparing annual earnings of women full-time, year round, to working men. Currently, the gender gap is at 28% in Canada. To be valued less than any man I have and will ever meet despite my education, drive, skills, or intelligence simply because I am a woman, is an issue that I will not let stand. I am committed to addressing the discrimination in wages and employment and the undervaluing of women and our work.

Over the last two decades the Australian population has faced a number of economic instabilities that has seen the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ increase. To determine who the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ are an in-depth investigation will be performed examining the circumstances under which the gap can be manipulated. The economic wellbeing of individuals is largely determined by their command over economic resources (ABS, 2009). The wellbeing of individuals who are classified as ‘haves’ are usually people who are asset rich, contain bonds, shares and are fairly affluent. The wellbeing of individuals who are classified as ‘have nots’ are usually the working poor, who have little assets and little investments i.e. bonds. These

The agency defines the Gender Pay Gap (GPG) as the difference between women’s and men’s average weekly full-time equivalent earnings. They calculated the national GPG using Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Average Weekly Full-Time earnings data. The key results for the GPG on a national average show that men earn 18.8% more than women. This percentage has hovered between 15% and 19% for the last 20 years. On a state and territory level, Western Australia had the highest gap of 25.7%, with the Australian Capital Territory the lowest with 11.7%. This means that Western Australian women would have to work 91 extra days a year to earn the same as their male counterparts. By industry, financial and insurance services had the highest GPG with 29.6% and public administration the lowest with a 7.2%. Over the 20 year period, the GPG was lowest in November 2004 at 14.9%. The study concludes that while a number of factors contribute to changes in the gender pay gap, including major changes in government policy, no causal links have been found to adequately explain the 2004 dip in the GPG, or its subsequent steep rise in

However, we are still fighting for equal pay and equality at home. Although the pay has increased from the 36-cent gap from the 1980s, there is an “estimated 16-cent pay gap today” in 2015 (Patten). The women’s 84-cent to men’s one-dollar gap is getting smaller and many women are working alongside men in the same vigorious day-to-day jobs they were working at before, so a great change towards equal pay is coming. Equality at home has gotten better over the year, but it continues to be an issue even in today’s

Through careful research of the issue at hand, we have proposed a variety of recommendations and policy options that the Australian government, ideally at the federal level, may be able to utilise which may result in equality for all citizens of Australia regardless of sex, gender and sexual orientation.

The government policy in Australia did not allow women to work in military service that weren’t up to their standards. But the government soon realised that women were actually capable of doing the jobs that men used to do like technical jobs or taking combat roles. This was clear to the government that their was more demand and that why women could hold these opportunities well. After women could take these roles there was an armed service for each branch that the women performed in. But sadly these weren't combat forces because the government decide that no women form the branched could serve outside. During the time of war many people were desperate for helpers, so women were called upon in places like New Guinea. These women then worked in jobs that were technical, mechanical or helping out the injured. It was regarded

6). The Diversity and Equity policy (DET 2013) was created to respond to the growingly diverse Victorian Community. Many Victorians face issues of racism and bullying and due to cultural and religious backgrounds, as well as socio-economic status, many do not experience equal or equitable opportunities. This is due to the emergence of our society as neo-liberal. Neo-liberalism means that ‘the agenda of economic and social transformation’ (Connell, 2013, p. 99) has moved from public agencies to ‘companies selling services in a market.’ A society modelled under neo-liberalism is skewed to support those with money and privilege, a majority of which, in Australian society, are middle class Anglo-Australians. As a result, the issues of equity and diversity within a neo-liberal society leave those affected at a marked disadvantage in comparison to the majority of Australians. The Diversity and Equity policy (DET 2013) is an attempt to improve the disadvantage experienced by the

Inequality an unfair situation in which some people have more rights or better opportunities than others. There are many forms of inequality. These can be based on gender, education, social economic factors and racism. Today I will focus on racism.

Aside from unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and substance use are also parts of unhealthy lives in aboriginal Australians that predominantly leading to increased disease burden (Péloquin, Doering, Alley & Rebar, 2017). In 2012-2013, only 38% of Aboriginal adults in urban area had sufficient physical activity that met the health guideline recommendation (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2014). Factors that impact physical activity include colonisation and low socio-economic status caused by colonisation among aboriginal Australians (Macniven et al., 2016). As mentioned previously, aboriginal Australians lived in hunter-gatherer lifestyles that required them to have sufficient physical activity, nevertheless, with the process of colonisation and urbanisation, most aboriginal people are grown in urban area where the traditional activity of hunting and gathering are disrupted (Nelson, Abbott & Macdonald,

Despite the fact that Australia is a multicultural society, those who have illiberal perceptions, due to influence of their culture, make it inevitable for gender equality to exist as all members of Australian society must conform.

Women remain at an economic disadvantage compared to men due to the fact that some occupations still pay women less than their male counterparts. This unequal pay reinforces the thinking that it is okay for men to make more than women just because of their gender. This is an obstacle within the workplace which prevents a woman from advancing her career and allows for higher positions to continue consisting almost entirely of men. Present day in the labour market, “Canadian women earn 23% less than men regardless of their age, education or occupation” (Struman, 2015). Even though women have been quite successful in seeking employment and many possess a decent education, women continue to face a difference in pay because of their gender. In order to be seen as equals women need to be earning the same amount as their male coworkers because they possess the necessary skills needed to complete the job. Differences in pay should be based on an individual’s qualifications and job experience not their gender. The difference in pay prevents women from achieving success and reinforces the point that women remain at an economic disadvantage. Gender based pay is problematic and “[t]he Canadian gender pay gap is the fifth largest among the 34 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries… [and] the pay gap is particularly pronounced for single mothers, racialized women, First Nations women, and women with disabilities” (Struman, 2015). Gender

In Australia over the last 20 years, it is documented that a person’s income and wages, differs based on one’s gender, known as the gender pay gap (The Conversation, 2017; Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), 2017c). This paper will discuss what a gender pay gap is, various economic explanations for this gap, summarise sociological responses, and identify possible policy recommendations and their implications.

While the world has unanimously advanced and is more accepting of change, the workplace continues to be a place of discrimination, prejudice and inequality. Discrimination is broadly defined to ‘distinguish unfavourably’, isolate; and is context based (Pagura, 2012). Abrahams (1991) described the workplace as an ‘inhospitable place’ where gender disparity and wage gaps persist (Stamarski & Son Hing, 2015). Among other states and countries, the Australian government actively implements and passes laws to protect and maintain equal employment rights. While the objective of these laws is ‘to eliminate discrimination,’ the regulatory mechanisms in the legislation are largely ineffective at achieving this ultimate goal (Smith, 2008). However,