Prejudice in pay gap

WOMEN in the lowest-paid jobs earn 10 per cent less than their male counterparts, possibly due to “simple prejudice”, according to new research.

The Melbourne University study found minimum award wages were “systemically lower” in jobs typically held by women. Base wages for mostly female health carers are 13 per cent lower than in the male-dominated truck-driving industry.

Professor Roger Wilkins, from the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, said “prejudice” could have played a part in creating the minimum wage gap.