92% of Australian women say gender balance not equal
92% of Australian women believe that they do not enjoy equal rights according to the results of a new study conducted by leading cosmetic company the Heat Group and UNIFEM Australia, the United Nations Development Fund for women.
The Poll also revealed 41% of women flagged domestic commitments, lack of support in the home and the resulting inability to work longer hours and promote themselves professionally as the major stumbling blocks to gender equality in Australia.
More than half of Australian women reported feeling pressure to conform to traditional female roles within the home, adding further disadvantages to the already challenging task of balancing the demand of both their personal and professional lives.
Conducted in the lead up to International Women’s Day, the Heat Group and UNIFEM Australia poll reinforces calls for the Australian Government to do more to address continuing discrimination against women in Australia.
“Programs such as the Paid Parental Leave scheme may help to move these women from the home to the workplace with greater ease, however it also highlights other issues such as access to flexible hours, the wage gap and access to affordable child care are still key issues for women,” said Gillian Franklin, Managing Director of the Heat Group.
Kate O’Reilly, Board Member of UNIFEM Australia today stated “it simply does not make economic sense not to have equality in the workplace. She went on to say that “companies who support the full participation of women at all levels demonstrate stronger performance.”
Business also received a bad wrap, with a high percentage of women – 41% – feeling they had being passed over for promotion because of their sex, a trend that is particularly evident amongst women over 40.
Of the more than 500 women polled nationally, 69% said they wanted more measures to improve the current situation of women in Australia; proving that despite progress being made gender equality in Australia still had a long way to go.
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I'm VERY happy that I'm in Australia.
Sometimes we are also scared of asking for what we want because we feel we do not deserve it. “Ask and it shall be given”
Sorry- hadn’t read this post before, but it’s so close to home! Our household has always been pretty unequal on the household front with the occasional burst of great participation! Now that I have been unemployed for umpty years, you could expect it to be fairly unequal, maybe, but it still doesn’t feel any better! It continues to irk me that the government now regards me as wholly dependent on a partner, when economic independence was pretty much a condition of me being in a partnership at all! The world seems to think that being dependent is a natural progression from being unable to get a job. However, when a woman has been on a professional salary and suddenly doesn’t have a cent any more, it’s a well-nigh impossible transition. I feel the psychological effects are insurmountable for me and will probably end in suicide, which the government would probably see as a good outcome! I’ll no longer be a drain on Medicare!!