KEY POINTS:
Despite women holding the roles of Prime Minister, Chief Justice and Speaker of the House, equality between the sexes is still elusive in New Zealand.
A report to be delivered to the United Nations later this month says women might be able to get to the top, but they still struggle to balance the demands of their work and their home lives.
"It's really great to have women in those positions and there was a strong push, but now they're all struggling to balance work and life," said Beryl Anderson, past-president of the National Council of Women of New Zealand.
"Men who get to the top don't seem to have those stresses. It's a major issue."
The council, which will present the report to the UN, has bought together submissions from over 90 organisations around the country to report on what life is like for women in New Zealand.
"The pay gap is still somewhere up near a 20 per cent differential and there aren't women coming through in the management and leadership positions," Ms Anderson said.
She said representation on public sector boards is below 50 per cent and it's much lower in the private sector.
The country is also failing the international standard for the number of women in parliament, set at 30 per cent, and the numbers of women in local body politics are dropping.
Ms Anderson said flexibility in the workplace is needed to accommodate women who may have to look after children or an elderly family member while working.
