Advertisement

The High Cost Of Being Born Female

The High Cost Of Being Born Female
The High Cost Of Being Born Female

Emma Watson, ambassador for UN Women. Photo: Getty Images

Julie McKay is the Executive Director of the Australian National Committee for UN Women. As the official magazine media partner of UN Woman, marie claire shares McKay's opinion piece about the forthcoming Progress Of The World's Women Report:

Being born a woman anywhere in the world, comes with severe financial penalties. The latest UN Women’s Progress of the World’s Women report, released today, reveals that women make up 70 percent of the world’s poor, continue to earn less than the average male and perform the majority of the world’s unpaid work. The report reveals that the costs of being born a woman include:

• Poverty in retirement – due to lost earnings in the years spent caring
• Higher healthcare costs – in many countries including Chile, girls pay more to visit the GP than boys
• Acceptance that despite legislative progress, you will be paid less for doing the same work.

The flagship global report on the state of the world’s women paints a grim economic picture. The report calculates, that at the current rate of change, it will take another 75 years before equal pay occurs. So it got me thinking of a solution: what if being born a man had a financial penalty similar to being born a woman - would we then see improved progress?

What if we simply adopt a ‘man tax’ that only men pay? These taxes would go towards funding the services needed by women to increase their chances of accessing decent work and maintaining independent economic security.

We could set the rate at 9 per cent which would equal half the current pay gap in Australia – thus equalising men’s and women’s pay overall? If men personally faced a 9 per cent additional ‘man tax’ would policy makers be able to act faster? I think they might.

Interestingly, in the United States, where women earn an average of 78 cents for every dollar that men make, a pop-up shop in Pennsylvania is using this blatant gender-biased wage gap to charge women lower prices. To reflect the local pay gap, female customers are only charged 78 per cent of the retail price while men pay in full. Perhaps some brave stores here in Australia will follow suit?

Of course I am joking regarding a ‘man tax’ (it would negatively impact family income for starters), but the point is, when are we going to say ‘enough is enough’ and demand equality? The Report makes numerous recommendations about the policy shifts necessary for gender equality to be reached – access to healthcare, inheritance rights, equal pay and of course adequate and affordable childcare are all among them.

What will it take to drive the changes that UN Women is calling for? So what can you do?

• Get active – read the Progress of the World’s Women Report and help us spread the word about economic inequality
• Raise your concerns about pay inequality with your local member of Parliament. Write to them and demand that they address this issue within the next term of Parliament
• Join the National Committee for UN Women and support our work to advocate for more affordable, flexible and accessible childcare solutions
• Hold an Equal Pay Day event in your local community
• Promote the Progress of the World’s Women Report via social media

The Progress of the World’s Women Report can be found online at UnWomen.org.au.