How wide is the gender pay gap in NZ?

Do you know the true extent of the wage gulf?

BY HRD 16 Aug 2018

The gender pay gap was 9.2% in the June 2018 quarter, the second-smallest gap since the series began 20 years ago, according to new figures by Stats NZ.

In contrast, the gender pay gap was 9.1% in 2012 (the lowest on record) and 9.4% in 2017.

Moreover, for the second year in a row, the gap showed that median hourly earnings for women, from wages and salaries, increased at a quicker pace than it did for male employees - up 3.2 and 2.9%, respectively.

Labour market manager Sean Broughton commented that since 1998, the gender pay gap has been trending down and has fallen more than 40%.

“However, while the gap has closed over the past 20 years, on average women are still paid less for an hour’s work than men,” he added.

First Union retail, finance and commerce secretary Tali Williams added that while the figures are improving, there’s still a long way to go. Moreover, the retail sector provides the “perfect opportunity to address the imbalance”.

“The figures are moving in the right direction, however as the retail workers union we are concerned to note that part-time workers continue to experience a higher impact from the gender pay gap than full time workers,” said Williams.

“The retail industry has a high proportion of part time workers and a high proportion of women workers, so it is workers in this industry that continue to suffer the gender pay gap.”

The figures also found the gender pay gap is smaller for people aged under 30 years.

In 2018, for those aged 15–19 years, the gap was 2.4%. For 20–24-year-olds it was 0.9%, and for workers aged 25–29 years the gap was 4.2%. The largest gap was for people aged 50–54 years (18.4%).

Broughton said the gender pay gap is a useful measure when trying to understand differences in pay between men and women because of its simplicity. However, the measure also has its limitations.

“It doesn’t account for men and women doing different jobs or working different hours. It also doesn’t account for personal characteristics that can influence pay, such as qualifications and age,” added Broughton.