The Covid-19 pandemic has harmed women’s careers in Australia. In the last two years, women have received fewer salary raises than men.
Women in Australia account for about half of the continent’s workforce. According to the Australian government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), men earn AU$261.50 (about US$187) more per week than women.
Women lost more jobs than men did after the pandemic hit the world.
Women have suffered the brunt of job losses resulting from the epidemic and subsequent lockdowns.
“In 2020 and 2021, women lost more jobs and working hours than men, owing to their disproportionate concentration in some of the hardest-hit sectors, like retail and hospitality” says Meraiah Foley, deputy director of the Women and Work Research Group at the University of Sydney Business School. “Front-line workers in health care and education-both sectors dominated by women-have faced increased risk of contracting the virus.
According to the WGEA, Australian women would have had to work an extra 61 days last year to earn the same as males in 2021.