Being a woman is an expensive exercise; and our bloke folk are often blissfully unaware as to just how good they have it. Aside from the very frustrating and unjust fact that women still earn markedly less than men – the gender pay gap is 17.5 per cent – our living costs are excessive compared to men’s. For a start, generally men don’t have to worry about regular, expensive costs such as all-over body waxing, hair care and make-up. Then there’s the exorbitant costs of feminine hygiene products, Botox (if that’s your bag, baby) and regular beauty treatments, just to name a few. Sure, men still have to get haircuts, but I reckon my no-fuss husband is more the norm than the exception with his penchant for $10 barber jobs. And, hilariously, he is still extremely shocked and appalled every, single time at the high cost, by contrast, of my $160 cut and colour I get every eight weeks or so.
Then there’s the fact recent studies have shown women are charged more for everything from dry cleaning through to insurance premiums! And, let’s face it, it’s a rare man indeed who has a shoe or clothing wardrobe to rival ours! There are blurred lines between need and want, but if you’re fashion-forward, girlfriend ain’t going to be happy with just owning five pairs of shoes, like your average bloke. But the gender pay gap is still the grimmest statistic of all – a slap in the face for us university-educated women.
Mark McCrindle, social researcher, trends analyst and demographer at Sydney’s McCrindle Research, says Gen Y women are better educated than their male counterparts, but still don’t earn as much. “Women still aren’t getting paid as much as men and the challenge and the anomaly there is generally with education flows income,” Mr McCrindle says.“Gen Ys are the most formally educated women – 40 per cent of women aged 25-35 have uni degrees compared to 29 per cent of males in the same age category. In fact, one in three Gen Ys have a university degree compared with one in four GenX-ers. With more Gen Y women having university degrees than their male counterparts you’d expect them to be earning more, but we’re still not seeing that.”
So, sisters, if all this money talk leaves you feeling a little bitter and twisted, better make him pay for groceries/dinner/movies tonight, this month, or perhaps for the whole year.
By Nicole Carrington-Sima
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