WOMEN'S salaries peak in their mid thirties, while men continue to get raises for more than two extra decades, official figures show.

Experts say there is a perception that women are “less valuable” than men in the workplace, and the fact that women often take time out to have a family is not the only reason for the massive wage disparity.



A woman’s weekly full-time gross earnings are at their highest between the ages of 30 and 34, with ABS figures showing they earn $1257 on average.



Men in the same age bracket earn an average $1433 a week, and their salaries continue to increase before reaching a peak of $1624 between the ages of 45 and 49.



By this age bracket, men are earning 26.7 per cent more than women.



Juliet Bourke, head of diversity at global management firm Deloitte, said gender pay gaps were often rationalised by the fact that women have children or that men and women tend to work in different occupations.



But Ms Bourke says that women are often perceived to have less potential for leadership right from the start of their careers.



“We see men as the leaders of tomorrow and women maybe as the leaders of tomorrow - you might have to go around the block one more time to prove yourself,” she said.



Ms Bourke said employers pay for what they value.



“If we think a guy is more of a certainty to become a leader then we’ll pay for that value,” she said.



“If we think a woman is a maybe and there’s a question mark over her head, we’ll hedge our bets and pay her a little less.”



Ms Bourke says there is a difference in the way employers value men and women, and that differentiation starts from the point that men and women graduate.



“On the same day they graduate men and women get paid a difference of about $2000, and that’s not about having kids,” she said.



The director of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, Helen Conway, said there was no doubt that women bear a disproportionate burden in terms of family and caring responsibilities.

Ms Conway says that until more men start accessing flexible work schemes, the disparity will continue.



“And a lot of younger men want to do the caring,” she said. “It’s just not culturally acceptable across many companies for men to take the time off.”