A landmark new study has identified the industry with the widest pay gap in Australia – and it’s probably not what you expect. Forget finance, media or advertising – the biggest pay gap is actually in the arts.
‘Making Art Work: An Economic Study of Professional Artists In Australia’ found that the average Australian female artist is better educated than her male counterpart, but earns far less, The Conversation reports. In the 2014-15 financial year, for instance, she earned $15,400 compared to $22,100.
“The income gap between men and women is wider in the arts than the average gap across all industries in Australia,” writes distinguished professor of economics at Macquarie University David Throsby and research project director at Macquarie University’s department of economics, Katya Petetskaya, for The Conversation. “This gap appears to be especially evident for female writers, visual artists and musicians.”
They obtained their data by conducting a major survey of practicing professional artists across the country over the past year.
