Gender gap unchanging in Kiwi public service

In recent years, the number of women in senior leadership roles in the public service sector has increased – but female leaders are still being paid 8% less than their male counterparts.

This pay gap has not changed for at least four years.

This was made evident by the State Services Commission’s annual Human Resource Capability report for the public sector – which showed that the pay gap between genders in key leadership roles has not decreased since at least 2010.

But the gap has not remained stagnant over this period – in 2012 it worsened to 11%, and it has now returned to its 2010 state of 8%.

The report also revealed that the pay gap is even worse at lower levels of the public service. Across all management roles, women were paid 14% less than men, with the average male earning $11,000 more than the average female.

Women make up 60% of the public service workforce, but hold only 42% of the 1025 senior leadership positions – a meagre 0.5% increase from last year.

The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet sees women being the most under-represented, The New Zealand Herald reported, with just 15% of top roles being held by women in spite of half of its total workforce being female.

“New Zealand's changing face needs to be reflected equally across the state sector from the boardroom down,” Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Jackie Blue told The New Zealand Herald.