Australia

Abstract

Although Australian women’s labour force participation has increased sharply since the turn of the century, there is a dichotomy between their participation at the pre pension threshold of 65 and after. Women’s gender segregation in low waged occupations is institutionalised through the neoliberal policy of individual enterprise agreements, reinforcing gender wage gaps. In combination, the gendered health effects of caregiving, disrupted careers and the experience of precarity shorten working lives, limiting wages and retirement incomes, ultimately impacting on women’s economic status and class. Some gender responsive initiatives through the courts have been instituted supporting flexibility..