Why does the gender wage gap increase with age?   

4 minute read  29.06.2022 Kate Hilder, Siobhan Doherty

Workforce Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) analysis of workplace participation and compensation data suggests that overrepresentation of women in part time work, is holding them back from promotion into leadership positions contributing to the steadily increasing earnings difference between men and women as they get older.


Key takeouts


  • Despite increases in both women’s workforce participation and engagement in higher education, the gender pay gap in Australia persists with men out-earning women in every age group.  Based on current trends, millennial women currently in the workforce will earn only 70% of men’s earnings by the time they reach the age of 45.  
  • The WGEA found that the gender wage gap (generally) increases with age, with the earnings difference widest for employees in the 45-64 age bracket at 31% (in favour of men).
  • The report flags women's underrepresentation in full time employment as a key barrier to women's career progression (given management roles are typically structured as full time positions) and a key contributor to the persistent gender pay gap.

The Workforce gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has released new data, 'Wages and Ages: Mapping the Gender Pay Gap by Age', offering insights into the drivers behind the persistent gender wage gap in Australia and including insights into why it (generally) widens with age.  Our key takeaways are below.

The gender pay gap gets wider with age

The WGEA found that (generally) men out-earn women in every age bracket, with the earnings difference increasing with age.  For example, the WGEA found that in the 24 years and under age group, women earned 2.5% less on average than their male peers increasing to 31.9% for employees in the 55-64 age bracket and remaining high at 25.3% for employees aged 65 years or older.

Why the age gap widens with age – two key factors 

Though flagging that there are a number of contributing factors, the report highlights the over-representation of women in part-time or casual work and the under-representation of women in management roles as two key reasons why the gender wage gap gets wider with age. 

1.  Over-representation of women in casual/part time roles

According to the WGEA's analysis: 

  • In every age cohort, less than 50% of women were employed full time in 2020-21 with the proportion of women employed full time decreasing with age.  For example, in 25-34 cohort over half of women were employed on a part-time and casual basis, increasing to 65% employed part time or casually in the 55+ age cohort.  
  • In contrast, the WGEA found that men tend to work full time from the age of 25.

The WGEA suggests that the over-representation of women in casual/part time work likely reflects the fact that women are more likely than their male peers to be balancing part-time work with caregiving responsibilities, a work pattern (described in the report as a 'modified male breadwinner model') that accentuates the gender pay gap over time.  

The WGEA states:

'The data confirms that the gender pay gap increased during those years that women would be more likely to reduce participation in the workforce due to care for children, between 25-44 years of age.  The impact of this continues into the next decades as the pay gap continues to increase.  As a result of the extra time women spend in unpaid care work for children and other family, they have delayed or reduced promotion opportunities and are less likely than men to hold highly compensated jobs'. 

2.  Underrepresentation of women in (higher paid) management roles 

The WGEA also found that that the proportion of women in (generally higher paid) management roles decreases with age.  

According to the WGEA, in the younger cohorts (less than 35 years), the proportion of men and women in manager roles was equal.  However, the report found that this shifted with age - from age 35, more men than women were promoted to management positions and this trend was found to continue.  The gender difference between men and women in management roles was found to be widest in the 45-54 age group.  

Importantly, the WGEA's analysis also highlights that management roles are typically full time positions and that this is 'not compatible with women's overall employment status, where over half of women are employed in part time and casual roles across all age groups'.  

The WGEA concludes that women may be limited in their progression to management roles because of their employment status (ie they are more likely to be working full time) and because of the 'unequal utilisation of flexible working arrangements between men and women'.  

The WGEA suggests that organisational expectations around management roles and the fact that they are usually structured as full time roles could play a key role in contributing to the low numbers of female managers.   The WGEA comments:

'Expectations for manager positions can be based on assumptions and stereotypes about the “ideal worker,” which disadvantage women because they spend less time in the workforce.   Women’s career progression can be limited when a workplace culture equates flexibility with lack of commitment, or when higher-level positions are perceived as less flexible'.   

WGEA calls on employers to rethink their approach 

In light of these findings, WGEA Director Mary Wooldridge has called on employers to re-evaluate their approach to flexible work including ensuring there is equal (gender-neutral) access to leave and flexible working arrangements as well as giving thought to way in which roles are structured to tap into the female talent pool.  

'Too many employers are missing a huge talent pool by not encouraging and enabling women to work additional hours or in the managerial ranks…With effective policies, workplaces can both enable women to work full-time if they chose to and make higher-paid managerial roles more accessible for those who work part-time…Leading employers are creating or redesigning roles to support part-time management and job-sharing structures, for example to make it possible for parents who may want to work school hours.  In times of a tight talent market, attracting and retain highly skilled and capable women is more important than ever.'

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https://www.minterellison.com/articles/summary-of-wgea-report-on-the-drivers-behind-the-gender-pay-gap