The impact of a sustained gender wage gap on the Australian economy

Pay inequity costs the Australian economy $93 billion per year, or 8.5% of GDP, according to this report. The report identifies reasons for the gender pay gap and measured the impact of the gap on economic growth. It finds that \u27being a woman\u27 was the single largest reason for the gender pay gap (60%). This includes complicated factors such as women\u27s choices of careers, jobs and work hours, consideration of caring responsibilities, women\u27s work motivations, bargaining power and appetite for risk, as well as discrimination against women that occurs in the workplace. Other contributing factors such as industry segregation and labour force history impact on the gender pay gap. The report was prepared by NATSEM for the Office for Women