Gender pay gap increases

The latest Quarterly Employment Survey shows the average pay gap between men and women has widened in the last quarter to 12.81 percent, the Green Party said today.

“In June the Minister of Women’s Affairs tried to claim that the gender pay gap had narrowed since her Government took office. These numbers clearly show that the gap is as wide as ever,” Green Party Women’s Affairs Spokesperson Catherine Delahunty said.

The Quarterly Employment Survey, released today by Statistics New Zealand, includes measures of the average hourly wages of men and women. Comparing the two shows that women earn on average 12.81 percent less than men, up half a percent since March.

“It’s incredibly disappointing to see the gap between what women earn and what men earn hasn’t narrowed at all,” Ms Delahunty said.

“Everyone deserves decent work, a living wage, and to be treated with respect. While the gender pay gap keeps getting wider we are short-changing more than half the population.

“Not only do women deserve more, if we close the gender pay gap we’ll all be better off. A fair society is better for everyone.

“We can turn the situation around and start closing the gender pay gap with strong political leadership and better laws.

“I am drafting a Member’s Bill to make it easier for current equal pay legislation to be applied and will introduce it to the ballot later this year.

“In the meantime, the Minister of Women’s Affairs needs to start taking the gender pay gap seriously. In June she effectively told Parliament that the Government had done nothing to reduce the gap since axing the Pay and Employment Equity Unit in the Department of Labour a year ago.

“Today’s figures show that we need action on pay equity now more than ever,” Ms Delahunty said.

References:

Gender pay gap by quarter according to the Quarterly Employment Survey:
Quarter Men Women %of men The gap
2008 Jun 25.30 22.16 87.59 12.41
Sep 25.67 22.54 87.81 12.19
Dec 25.95 22.72 87.55 12.45
2009 Mar 26.21 23.08 88.06 11.94
Jun 26.41 23.24 88.00 12.00
Sep 27.00 23.58 87.33 12.67
Dec 26.99 23.49 87.03 12.97
2010 Mar 26.81 23.50 87.65 12.35
Jun 27.08 23.61 87.19 12.81
(http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/work_income_and_spending/employment_and_unemployment/QuarterlyEmploymentSurvey_HOTPJun10qtr.aspx. Relevant data are in associated tables 7.02 and 7.03)
Video of Catherine Delahunty questioning Women’s Affairs Minister Pansy Wong on the gender pay gap on 30 June: http://inthehouse.co.nz/node/3758

ENDS

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