It will take almost 100 years to close gender pay gap at current rate 금요반

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BUSINESS MONEY It will take almost 100 years to close gender pay gap at current rate Susan Edmunds, Money Correspondent susan.edmunds@rnz.co.nz 12:41 pm on 27 September 2024 https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/529215/it-will-take-almost-100- years-to-close-gender-pay-gap-at-current-rate If New Zealand's gender pay gap continues to close at its current rate, it will be almost 100 years after the passing of the Equal Pay Act before women are paid the same as men. The Council of Trade Unions each year calculates the date that women start working for "free", because of the difference in their wages compared to what men earn. For all women, compared to all men, that date is 28 November. But compared to Pākehā men, Pasifika women start working for free from Friday. Asian women hit the "free" date on 21 October. The gender pay gap currently sits at 8.9 percent. It is down from 14.9 percent in 2008 but increased for a period during the pandemic. Council of Trade Unions policy director and economist Craig Renney said the gap could be caused by direct discrimination - such as when women were paid less than men for the same job, or overlooked for promotion because of their gender. There could also be indirect discrimination when female-dominated industries were valued less highly and paid less. Based on current trends, the gender pay gap could be expected to close in 2068. The Equal Pay Act was passed in 1972. A woman starting work this year aged 18 would need to wait until she was 49 to see pay parity across the economy, Renney said. Rachel Mackintosh, the assistant national secretary at the union E Tū, said progress was happening at a "glacial" pace. "There is very slow progress and at current rates it will take 95 years since the Equal Pay Act for the pay gap to be closed, which is pretty outrageous." She said people should consider the wider effects of women being paid less. "Children are in poverty, there are ripple effects of that through people's whole lives. If you've got that in mind, it's much more motivating to do something about it ... Whole sectors are undervalued because they are femaledominated." "It's human lives we are talking about, it's not just the physical, practical things like having enough money to live on ... it's also the psychological effect of having the whole of society telling you that what you do is not as valuable as what someone else does, even if they're doing the same thing." Renney said there was a risk the current economic environment could set progress back. "A downturn in the economy and rising unemployment will compound this issue. Unemployment for women during previous recessions has increased more quickly than for men." Targeted job losses in the public sector (where female employment was higher) would also mean that female wage bargaining power declined. "This is a recipe for a continuing gender pay gap." He said there was also an element of wage scarring affecting some women. "Where women have caring responsibilities, or maybe they have taken time off to have children, they can find their career projection is altered as a consequence." He said it might help to improve paid parental leave and make sure men had the opportunity to take it, and to improve the affordability and availability of early childhood education services. "And we can make sure that we're valuing work equally where it has the same qualifications and experience and we don't systematically under-pay groups just because they happen to be female-dominated... we probably should have cracked this by now." Renney also calculated the combined cost to women of not having pay equality as $7.2 billion a year. "That's the first round effect, it doesn't include KiwiSaver, doesn't include savings and interest, doesn't include the fact they might have higher debt, financial security - there is a huge range of additional costs as a consequence." He said there were also more women earning the minimum wage, so they were more affected if increases did not keep up with inflation. Mackintosh said improved pay transparency would also help. When pay was kept secret, it was more likely to exacerbate the gap, she said. Mackintosh and Renney said actions such as the repeal of Fair Pay Agreements and the disestablishment of the pay equity taskforce were a problem. Pay gap equates to Māori and Pasifika women ‘working for free’ for rest of the year Mildred Armah October 22, 2024 •01:07pm https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360458625/pay-gap-equates-maori-andpasifika-women-working-free-rest-year Fast Facts • Starting this week, Māori and Pasifika women are effectively working for free compared to what Pākehā men earn. • The data was released as part of the launch of the new Pay Gap Insights Hub. • Data from the registry shows pay gap reporting is successful in closing gaps in 79% of organisations but there is still a need for more businesses to take action. Māori and Pasifika women started this week effectively working for free for the rest of the year compared to what Pākeha men earn, new data shows. The Pay Gap Insights Hub data reveals pay gaps in Aotearoa remain substantial, especially when looking at the intersection of gender and ethnicity. The gap between Pākehā men and Pākehā women’s pay is 8.1%, but between Pākehā men and Asian women it is 18.2%, between Pākehā men and Māori women it is 19% and between Pākehā men and Pasifika women is 20.9%. Based on these percentages, as of Monday, Māori and Pasifika women are now effectively working for free for the remainder of 2024, when compared to Pākeha men. Brooke Stanley Pao said the latest data is “reflective of a system that doesn’t value Māori and Pasifika women”. Pao is part of Auckland Action Against Poverty - an organisation that has long been advocating for liveable incomes for all. “People are doing their best despite the impacts of low wages being super harmful, negative and intergenerational,” Pao said. “I just want to acknowledge the resilience, power and drive from so many people in our communities who are not valued and seen despite bringing generosity, manaaki and love to all the places we're in.” She said businesses needed to do more to ensure Māori and Pasifika women were being “paid their worth”. Mind the Gap co-founder and leader of the new Hub, Dellwyn Stuart said the voluntary reporting activity that was initiated as part of the Mind the Gap campaign is generating data that will help inform best practice in the New Zealand employment environment. “While legislation is required to create an even playing field for reporting and impact, there is still opportunity for positive change with the current voluntary approach,” Stuart said. “We have around 3000 businesses in NZ of more than 100 employees and only a small fraction of these have embraced reporting to date. That means there’s lots of room to increase participation.” Data from the Pay Gap Registry showed pay gap reporting is successful in closing gaps in 79% of organisations that have reported year on year, but there is a need for more businesses to take action on reporting and addressing pay gaps, Stuart said. “We know New Zealand employers don’t set out to have pay gaps, but almost all do find gaps. “It’s the act of measuring and analysis that reveals the drivers and solutions within each business,” Stuart said. Pay gaps represent substantial income and resources that are not available to women and their families. This is more so in Māori and Pasifika households where pay gaps are larger, Stuart said. “Women’s wages are critical for the wellbeing of their children and wider whānau… ensuring women are paid equitably and afforded opportunities to advance to higher paying roles (addressing pay gaps) will reduce our in work poverty rates.” The data was released as part of the launch of the new Pay Gap Insights Hub where the Pay Gap Registry can now be found alongside resources for organisations looking to close their gaps. Stuart said there was broad support from across business for the Pay Gap Insights Hub. “The Hub will champion reporting, share useful tools and frameworks and the key learnings. “Our early adopters come from a broad cross section of business sectors with the most recent reporters including a games developer, wine exporter and rural services company.” There are 115+ New Zealand organisations on the registry shown as reporting gender pay gaps, of which: 26% are also reporting their Māori pay gaps, 22% are also reporting their Pacific peoples pay gaps and 79% reported an overall decrease in their gender pay gap. - Stuff