Report into the gig economy finds women are earning 37% less than men
A new report commissioned by the Victorian government has found gender inequality is entrenched in the gig economy, with women earning up to 37% less than men.
The report, produced by a Queensland University of Technology research team and released on Monday, summarises Australian and global studies and found the gig economy can “both reproduce and exacerbate existing gender inequalities in work”.
According to the report, women in gig economy roles in Australia earn between 10% and 37% less than men.
For the same work, men earned on average $2.67 per hour more than women, though about 40% of gig economy workers do not know what their hourly rate is.
Women were also significantly more likely to earn less than $40,000 annually off-platform. They are more likely to be homemakers or unpaid carers – or, if employed, to be in work that is part-time, casual, or on a fixed-term contract.
Men in the gig economy are more likely to work in software development and technology, transport and food delivery and skilled trade, while women are more likely to participate in historically feminised work such as clerical and data entry, sales and marketing support, writing and translation and care work.
According to the report, 14% of women nominated the location of their platform work as being “in the home of an individual client”, compared to 5% of men.
Melbourne woman Lorna Berry said she took up ride-share driving in 2016 to supplement her income.
But Berry is the first to admit there are challenges unique to female drivers.
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“You sometimes get your ‘Boomer man’, they’ll be the ones trying to tell you how to drive or which way to go. You get asked asked a lot,
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