Over the next 33 days we can only hope our major political parties address the ‘women’s vote’ by doing more than putting their still too small representation of female candidates and the wives and daughters of their leaders on the campaign trail.
With the Federal election scheduled for 7 September, we’re guaranteed to see some new measures for appealing to women. After all, both parties have taken plenty of lessons on board from the Obama campaign and the role of women in determining the 2012 US Presidential elections.
Politicians have long been seeking the women’s vote and for good reason. Not only do we make up 51% of the population, but we can also shift a large portion of the vote based on so-called women’s policy issues alone, as well as how ‘female-friendly’ we believe our politicians to actually be.
And when it comes to boosting productivity, women have a major role to play and all Australians should see ‘policies affecting women’ as essential for our future prosperity. Indeed, in frequently cited research by JBWere, Australia’s GDP could increase by 11%, the equivalent of $25 billion, if women’s workforce participation was raised to match the level of men.
But if we’re ever going to get anywhere close to matching the workforce participation rate of men, we need policies to support the structural changes required. For instance, if we can’t afford or access childcare, we’re less likely to return to the workforce soon after having children. And if we can’t see more female leaders at the top — in politics, business and across the community — younger women are unlikely to believe such opportunities for leadership exist for them. If we can’t find a means to address the 17.5% gender pay gap, then women will continue to accumulate a lifetime of poverty, meaning more of us will struggle to fund our own retirement.
Meanwhile, what good is an investment in education for women if we see little to no return on such an investment? Australia currently boasts one of the highest levels of education attainment for women in the world, but this is not reflected in the female workplace participation rate. According to ABS data, when women hit their mid-twenties, their likelihood of being in the workforce declines for the next two decades.
As Yolanda Vega from the Australian Chamber of Women in Commerce pointed out recently, new research has found that 40% of employers prefer hiring male workers who do not have children. There are clear structural and cultural impediments contributing to this unconscious bias at the hiring level — impediments that can be addressed.
Still, more so than policies that directly affect women, our leaders will find large segments of the women’s vote are more interested in how both parties respond to broader policy areas. In an online poll earlier this year, we found the majority of this audience listed education, healthcare and climate change as their key areas of concern. That was before the majority of states signed up to the education reform package and prior to Kevin Rudd axing the ‘carbon tax’ and announcing his controversial Asylum Seeker agreement with PNG and Nauru.
At that time 54% of you agreed Labor had the best policies for women, putting it at 20.2% for the Coalition and 25.8% for the Greens. Meanwhile, 27% of you reported you believe women will be worse off following the next election.
But that was then — when former prime minister Julia Gillard announced an election date — and this is now, when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has formally called an election.
So, what matters to you most, now that we’re 33 days out from an election? Let us know in our one-minute election poll.