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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/20/mothers-to-pay-more-in-student-debt-thats-australias-sexism-for-you

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Mothers to pay more in student debt: that's Australia's sexism for you Mothers to pay more in student debt: that's Australia's sexism for you
(4 months later)
News News that women will pay 30% more in student debt under the Abbott government’s changes to higher education will be ignored by the denialists who believe sexism is a figment of the female imagination. Yet, this news is the perfect example of Australia’s sexism.
that women will pay 30% more in student debt under the Abbott government’s Under the auspices of “earn or learn”, the Abbott government will decrease funding for courses, increase interest rates on student loans and deregulate higher education fees into a profit-seeking, fees-‘sploding orgiastic frenzy.
changes to higher education will be ignored by the denialists who believe According to the Greens, mothers will as a result take five years longer to pay their student debt back than for men with or without children. This is a difference of $6,200, that is, worth more four extra years of payments. The gender debt gap only drops by $1,000 if the mother continues to pay off her debt with Abbott’s folly, the paid parental leave scheme (PPL).
sexism is a figment of the female imagination. Yet, this news is the perfect example of We will hear the deniers say this isn’t an example of sexism – that it’s just life. Take time out of work, put time on your debt, they'll say. Think about the economy. Here’s what they don’t take into account: sexism exists, this education plan is just the latest example of it, and it is having a terrible effect on the economy. Want a good economy? Get women educated, and get them not only in the workforce, but also fully embedded in careers that pay them as well as their male peers.
Australia’s sexism. It is partly this pay gap that will prevent women from paying their student debt at the same potential rate as men. On a much broader level, it’s also this pay gap that already stymies Australia’s GDP growth, according to the IMF. Though the denialists will balefully paint the gender pay gap as a myth, it’s a real beast.
Under the auspices of “earn or learn”, the When you combine the pay gap with social and work structures that reduce women’s participation in the workforce, plus a proposed higher education system that will burden women with extra debt, you are forcing women to decide whether they will either downgrade their careers – from permanent to casual, from full time to part time, skilled to unskilled or reduce their earning to avoid repayments – or hold off having children.
Abbott government will decrease funding for courses, increase interest rates on This is the curious aspect of the government’s budget: don’t they want us to contribute more? How is it, in a budget that raves like a deranged preacher about how we must all work, that politicians still ignore the measures that will boost Australia’s participation and productivity most – education, childcare and equality?
student loans and deregulate higher education fees into a profit-seeking, Coalition governments are big on boosting Australia’s birthrate, telling us to have three children – one for mum, one for dad and one for the country. Yet despite this insatiable need for population growth, we have a budget that will charge women more to pursue an education, pay them less to contribute to the economy and make it harder for them to re-enter the workforce once they have children. As always, it comes back to how we treat mothers – courting their vote, and simultaneously castigating them for reproducing in the first place.
fees-‘sploding orgiastic frenzy. These aren’t choices we force on men. These are penalties we extract from women, based on their gender.
According to the Greens, mothers will as a result take five years
longer to pay their student debt back than for men with or without children. This is a difference of $6,200, that is, worth more four extra years of payments. The gender
debt gap only drops by $1,000 if the mother continues to pay off her debt with
Abbott’s folly, the paid parental leave scheme (PPL).
We will hear the deniers say this isn’t
an example of sexism – that it’s just life. Take time out of work, put time on your
debt, they'll say. Think about the economy. Here’s what they don’t take into
account: sexism exists, this education plan is just the latest example of it, and it
is having a terrible effect on the economy. Want a good economy? Get women educated, and get them not only in the workforce, but also fully embedded in careers that pay them as well as their male peers.
It is partly this pay gap that will prevent women
from paying their student debt at the same potential rate as men. On a much
broader level, it’s also this pay gap that already stymies Australia’s GDP growth, according to the IMF. Though the denialists will balefully paint
the gender pay gap as a myth, it’s a real beast.
When you combine the pay gap with social
and work structures that reduce women’s participation in the workforce, plus a
proposed higher education system that will burden women with extra debt, you
are forcing women to decide whether they will either downgrade their careers – from permanent to casual, from full time to part time, skilled to unskilled or
reduce their earning to avoid repayments – or hold off having children.
This is the curious aspect of the government’s
budget: don’t they want us to contribute more? How is it, in a budget that raves like a
deranged preacher about how we must all work, that politicians still ignore the
measures that will boost Australia’s participation and productivity most –
education, childcare and equality?
Coalition governments are big on boosting
Australia’s birthrate, telling us to have three children – one for mum, one for
dad and one for the country. Yet despite this insatiable need for
population growth, we have a budget that will charge women more to pursue an
education, pay them less to contribute to the economy and make it harder for
them to re-enter the workforce once they have children. As always, it comes back to how we treat mothers – courting their vote, and simultaneously castigating them for reproducing in the first place.
These aren’t choices we force on men.
These are penalties we extract from women, based on their gender.