The latest WGEA Ages & Wages report has made something very clear:
The gender pay gap isn’t a moment. It’s a compounding pattern.
Women entering the workforce in their teenage years often start out earning slightly more than men of the same age. But by their 20s, that changes. And from there, the gap continues to widen.
By the time employees reach their 30s, the gap has built significantly. It peaks in the 55–59 age bracket, where women earn almost $53,000 less per year than men doing the same work.
And in leadership?
Women managers earn less at every single age.
Between 55–59, the difference jumps to $85,662 on average.
The result?
Women retire with one-third less superannuation than men.
This is not simply a policy issue.
- It’s a pipeline issue.
- It’s a confidence, visibility and sponsorship issue.
- It’s a system and culture issue.
And if we want to change the numbers we see in the boardroom, in pay packets and in retirement balances, we cannot start at the pointy end. We must invest earlier.
At Future Female Leaders, we work with schools, workplaces and community leaders to build strong, ambitious, skilled young women who step into leadership roles with confidence, support networks and sponsorship behind them. Because closing the gap starts with ensuring women are not just in the room – but leading it.
If your organisation is committed to real equity, to future talent pipelines, to doing more than posting about International Women’s Day once a year – then now is the time to invest.
Let’s build leadership pathways that don’t leak.
Let’s design workplaces where women stay, grow and lead.
Partner with us. The impact lasts a lifetime. Read more here >
WGEA’s Ages and Wages report shows how the gender pay gap impacts women and men at different ages, and how employer interventions at critical times can reduce the gap and improve the ability of women to earn and save for retirement.
It also provides insight into how those same actions could address growing concerns for men, including the lack of flexible work options, a work culture of long hours and unequal access to parental leave.
The information included in the report comes from the annual Employer Census, lodged to WGEA by 7,414 employers in 2024.
It offers an insight into the experience of more than 5.1 million employees across Australia in 19 industries.
Change the story. Shape the future.
Employers want their workplaces to be fair, equal, and safe. But the persistence and compounding impact of the gender pay gap throughout a woman’s lifetime shows something in the way we work is not working for women.
Unintentionally, some policies, actions, expectations of women and men or ‘the way we do things around here’ are also are limiting men.
Ages and Wages finds a key turning point occurs around age 34 where the gender pay gap accelerates.
Critical drivers of this acceleration include:
- a lack of part-time manager roles
- assumptions not backed by evidence that full-time workers are more committed to their jobs or more productive
- bonus and overtime systems that favour men
recruitment and promotion processes that perpetuate the gender pay gap.
The report reveals the key actions employers can take today to make work fair for both women and men. Taking at least one this year could make your workplace fairer.