Equal work, equal pay

Tomorrow, 8 March, is International Women's Day. Coinciding with that, Get Up Australia is running a campaign for equal pay for women. They point out that:

For every $1 earned by men in Australia today, women earn just 84c.

Even worse - the gap has actually widened since 2004.

Isn't it outrageous that 99 years after the first International Women's Day, we still have to campaign for equal pay between men and women? Now we have a Labor government with more women in cabinet that ever before, you'd think that the Rudd government would be inclined to fix up that inequity. Well, you'd hope. Let's not take that for granted. As the Get Up email says:

From paid maternity leave to high-quality affordable childcare - a people's movement has the power to convince politicians and corporations to actively remove the stubborn systemic inequalities that still exist, to ensure productive participation - for equal reward.

You can sign Get Up's Equal Pay campaign petition at their website (the image above is off their site).

To help celebrate IWD, I also recommend that you visit and read these wonderful Australian, feminist bloggers:

• Ampersand Duck
• Blogger on the Cast Iron Balcony
• Cirsty at Two Peas, No Pod
• Galaxy
• Hoyden About Town
• Pavlov's Cat
• Reeling and writhing

Of course, there are heaps more out there, but these are the ones I enjoy reading regularly. If there are others you'd like to suggest, please feel free to leave a comment.

And happy International Women's Day to all women, and especially all those who read this blog, for tomorrow.
______
Update: as a further celebration of International Women's Day, I've posted the fabulous photograph of women workers at an American railway dated 1943. It is from the Library of Congress flickr collection. [updated Friday 4.16 pm]

Read more!

Happy International Women's Day

Today is International Women's Day, so I would like to wish all the women in my life and the women who read this blog Happy International Women's Day!

This is post is a bit later in the day than I'd hoped, so I hope you've had a lovely day and had the chance to do something to mark it.

I was planning to write a post about how things aren't getting better for working women, or unemployed women, or women who stay at home. I was going to point to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's (HREOC's) recent concerns at how women's pay has actually dropped compared to men's:

average full time working woman currently earns 83.6 cents in the male dollar compared with 85 cents in February 2005.

And heartily agree with them that:

This pay inequality also limits choices for men to undertake a greater role in the home because families cannot afford to lose the larger part of a double income.

To create real choices for men and women we need to put more effort into progressing pay equity. We need to make it easier for families to manage their paid work and family responsibilities.

And I would have argued cogently that we all need to do something about this deplorable situation. But, the Deputy Opposition Leader Julia Gillard beat me to it!

So, I'm offering up this modest suggestion: if you're a bloke, I would urge you to do something nice for the women in your life today, and the rest of the week. No. Actually, make that something helpful. Like do the dishes today. And cook dinner, make the tea and put the kids to bed (if you have them), or failing that, read to them.

I'm sure that many of you already do all these things and more, and may think that such suggestions are a bit naff in dealing with the underlying disadvantage that exists. But considering the significance of what the HREOC is calling a "shared work - valued care" approach to striking the balance between work and family, then perhaps it's a great start.

And it may just help make some woman's day.

[The image is by jeangenie (cc), who is a Brisbane based flickr member]

Read more!