The Top Five Issues Facing Women at Work
The sight of Queensland Senator Larissa Waters’s breastfeeding her baby daughter in Federal Parliament this week was welcomed as a major “working mum” breakthrough. Recent rule changes led to baby Alia Joy becoming the first baby to be breast fed in Federal Parliament. But while it is a step in the right direction in relation to working women’s rights in this country there is clearly still a long way to go. Senator Waters may be paid the same amount as male Senators but that’s not the case for most working women in this country. Gender pay disparity and juggling work and home continue to top the problems facing working women in Australia today. There are plenty of statistics tracking the percentage of women in the workforce, their qualifications and their salaries.
But the data doesn’t show us the whole picture. It doesn’t assess how women feel, how they fare in their day-to-day business and the challenges they encounter. According to the research, the issues that concern women the most are: Equal pay Work-life balance Harassment
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Career opportunities Children and career
Australian women are not alone with their concerns. Recent global research reports reveal that four in every 10 women see the gender pay gap as a key issue, with women in seven nations listing this discrepancy as their major concern.
Interestingly, France, Germany and the United States lead the table despite recent World Economic Forum data indicating these economies have, in fact, some of the narrowest pay gaps among G20 nations. In addition to Australia, women in Britain, Brazil, and Canada also ranked the gender pay gap as their biggest workplace worry, while in China women expressed the least concern. Harassment in the workplace also emerges as one of the five top critical issues worldwide nearly one third of women interviewed admit to having experienced harassment, although more than 60% do not report it.
“The poll shows that when women see a real possibility for change, they seize it”, said researchers Thomson Reuters Foundation CEO Monique Villa to the BBC World News. Almost half of the women polled were optimistic about the prospects of having a child and a career. Women in emerging countries led by Brazil – where maternity laws are generous and family ties are close – were the most confident. By contrast, women in some of the richest countries – Germany, the UK and France – are least confident and feel having a family might wreck their careers. She Brisbane is for all women of Brisbane to share our stories, touching personal stories, women issues our experiences, tips, social commentary, to support each other and opportunities to connect.