Facts about women
FEMINISM.... ?
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT IT’S GOT TO DO WITH YOU...
WE’RE ALL EQUAL NOW ...
AREN’T WE??
Facts About Australian Women
Women form approximately 52% of the population.
Work and Income
- 70% of the world’s 1.3 billion poor are women.
- Australian women earn 65% of average male weekly earnings and are more likely to get jobs in a smallerrange of areas at lower levels.
- In May 1996 women employed full time earned on average 79% of equivalent male earnings.
- Young women make up only 12.5% of Australian apprentices and these are mostly in hairdressing.
- In 1996 28% of Australian female employees were union members.
- In August 1996 women represented 30% of all farmers or farm managers.
- 34% of academics in 1997 were women. 13% of senior academic positions are held by women.
- Women form 80% of teacher appointments in NSW government schools yet are only 0.1% of the most senior position - principal of primary school.
Unpaid Work ...The Home
The 1992 Juggling Time survey showed:
- women spent about 10 hours per week cooking while men spent 3 hours.
- women spent 5 hours doing laundry while men spent 1 hour
- women do about 70% of unpaid work
Education
Internationally there are one billion people who are illiterate, women form two thirds of this group.
- In 1991 in Australia, women comprised 45% of those whose highest qualification was a bachelor degree.
Health
The life expectancy of women in NSW in 1995 was 81 years compared with 75 years for men.
- Each year 7500 women develop breast cancer and 2600 die from it.
- A survey of women in the 18 - 23 year age group, showed 30% were underweight, 33% smoked and 40% did little or no exercise.
Politics and Decision making
Women remain under-represented in decision making positions at all levels of society - private enterprise, the public sector and the community.
- In Australia less than 5% of board seats on Australia’s top 100 listed companies are held by women.
- Women comprise more than 40% of employees in the Australian Public Service and in the private sector yet represent 22% at the management level.
Women are under-represented in politics:
- In September 1996 at the Federal level there were 23 women out of 148 (15%) in the House of Representatives and in the Senate there 23 women out of 76 (30 %).
- Across all Houses of Parliament at July 1997 women’s representation ranged from 36% in the ACT House of Assembly down to 11% in the Tasmanian Legislative Assembly.
- In 1994 women formed 20.5% of local government representatives.
Violence
- Violence or fear of violence, at home, in the streets and in the community remains one of the major concerns for women today.
- It is estimated that between 1 in 5 and 1 in 10 women will be a victim of domestic violence at some stage during their lives.
- It is estimated that by the age of 18 up to 1 in 3 young women will have been a victim of sexual abuse.
Portrayals of Women
- Of the 26 portraits exhibited in the 1993 Archibald Prize 8 were painted by female artists and of the 27 subjects painted 3 were women.
FEMINISM IS THE ADVOCACY OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS ON THE GROUNDS OF EQUALITY OF THE SEXES.
Macquarie Dictionary.
Sources of Information
NSW Dept for Women1998; Women into Politics 1998,
Here We Come Ready or Not; Office of the Status of Women,1991,
Juggling Time; Good Weekend, Sydney Morning Herald, August 28, 1993.
