Women continue to be at a comparative economic disadvantage to men and many face uncertain economic futures as a result of this situation. Thus, the gap has closed by only 1.0 percentage point over five years . Average earnings for women continue to be lower than those for men in all occupational groupings. Precarious Employment Women continue to be at a comparative economic disadvantage to men and many face uncertain economic futures. A key reason for this disadvantaged position is women's greater likelihood of experiencing precarious employment, particularly casua l and part-time employment .
Women make up the majority of casual workers.
Casual employment can place women in a tenuous economic position, offering little or no long-term financial security and restricting their access to services such as home loans. Reliance on casual employment can also impact on women's ability to freely negotiate fair working conditions with their employer. Women are over-represented amongst the underemployed . The current inflexibility of working arrangements in many workplaces mitigates against women's full participation in the workforce, particularly those women with prime carer responsibilities. Women represent the greater proportion of carers , with nearly double the number of women than men having primary responsibility as carers.