Bay stats confirm huge gender pay difference

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce CEO Darrin Walsh says the gender pay gap could be put down to fewer women in senior roles.

Women are still severely disadvantaged compared to men in the region when it comes to pay, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Women in the Bay of Plenty, including Rotorua, were paid a median weekly income of $440 which was substantially less than Bay men who pocketed a median weekly income of $720 in 2014 - a difference of 48 per cent.

Median weekly income increases by year for women were also consistently lower than their male counterparts.

From 2013 to 2014, median income for males increased by $47, or 4.3 per cent, from $690 while median income for females increased only by $4, or 1.1 per cent, from $436 in 2013.

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Darrin Walsh said the difference was down to a lack of women in the workforce and fewer women in senior roles.

Those statistics, when you see them, generally knock you off your seat but it is a matter of whether we are comparing apples with apples," he said.

"Generally there is parity when you have women and males in the same roles. It is just that we don't have the same numbers of women occupying senior roles and men predominantly dominate those roles."

Mr Walsh said there had been a push in many workplaces to hire women but he believed hiring on the basis of gender was unfair.

"A lot of employers are trying to fix the gender balance in the office but then you have to look at the applicants when they come through the door.

"With any employment, the best person for the job should get the role. An employer shouldn't be focused on trying to employ a female for a role because they want to even up gender balances in the workplace."

The national median weekly income, $767 for men and $464 for women, displayed a gender-related imbalance in all regions.

Union organiser Shanna Reeder of Unite said a variety of factors still fuelled the gender-related wage gap in New Zealand.

Ms Reeder said women usually wouldn't put their hands up for higher paying roles as often as men, and often took time off work for maternity leave.

"It's strange because it's something that seems so clear; men and women should be paid equally. But when you look at statistics, you see how significant the gap is," she said. additional reporting by Cloe Willetts