Gender Differences in the Likelihood of Low Pay in Australia

The extent of low paid work and the particular features of its distribution are important public policy issues, especially as the growth in low paid work in recent decades has been an important contributory factor in the increasing levels of wage inequality in Australia and other industrialised countries. This paper employs a probit analysis of the Survey of Employment and Unemployment Patterns data (ABS, 1997) to identify the determinants of low paid employment in the male and female workforces in Australia. It also examines the relationships between low levels of pay and job and life satisfaction, and provides a discussion of the possible economic and social consequences of these relationships.