Gender pay gap slow to narrow

By LOUISA CLEAVE

Women's income over the past 17 years has gained little ground against men, with the gap narrowing just 5 per cent.

And lower-earning women of all ages have seen no improvement in real income over 20 years.

Post-election briefing papers for the new Minister of Women's Affairs, Ruth Dyson, said it was getting harder for women to achieve financial independence.

Ms Dyson was told women were held back by the expectation they would bear children and take most of the responsibility for childcare and other unpaid work.

The papers, released yesterday by the Ministry of Women's Affairs, said the Government had to undertake a "radical rethink" of family policies, as well as income and employment guidelines.

A Women's Strategy due to be completed next June needed a "whole of Government" approach, the ministry said.

"While there has been some progress in addressing direct discrimination ... these interventions have to date been insufficient. Women continue to have their skills in the community, the home and the workplace undervalued."

Men and women put in similar hours of total work, but while 60 per cent of men's time was paid, almost 70 per cent of women's work time was unpaid.

The ministry wants to work with Statistics New Zealand to put an official value on unpaid work, with women's contribution currently estimated at $25 billion, or 25 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

The papers said that, for many women, personal income was their only financial support. Women earned their own living, contributed to the household and, in many cases, supported children alone.

Their average income was $14,500, compared to $24,000 for men.

Women's average hourly earnings were 84 per cent of men's, with the average dropping another 10 per cent for Maori women.

Pacific women earned 70 per cent of men's average hourly rate.

The median income for Pacific and Maori women was lower than for women as a whole. Maori women earned a median income of $13,200 and Pacific women $13,000, compared to $14,500 overall.

The papers also highlighted the ongoing problem of family violence, predominantly against women.

"It directly impacts on the health, economic status, social participation and general well-being of women, children, families, whanau, hapu and iwi. It can affect women's ability to find and retain paid employment."

The briefing papers said Pacific women were disproportionately represented among those who took jobs - sometimes several - to get enough money to help support their families.

Often the jobs were lowly paid and had little stability.

"The inadequate size of state houses for large families provides a good example of how policies in the housing sector have created a systemic barrier to Pacific women and their families gaining access to better housing."

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